After Wild
by Sora Moto
Summary: After the Calamity Ganon is defeated Link struggles with the aftermath of their conflict and the expectations placed on their shoulders.
1. Chapter 1

This is an experiment I am trying. I hope it will be enjoyed by those that read it and that you all want to read more. Please be aware that this is going to maybe go to some uncomfortable places for some people. Still I hope this little thought experiment is something you all enjoy.

888888888888

The Hyrulian Champion and hero slowly opens the door to the house in Hateno Village before making their way inside and closing it behind them. Looking around they take in the weapons mounts on the walls and the bareness overall of the living space. Faint memories play in their head of growing up in this very same house. An attentive mother and a strict father guiding them on their path. Mother falling ill and father never returning from a battle against dark forces gaining strength in the far reaches of the kingdom. A letter calling for Link to report to the palace as the Champion of Hyrule that would save all of them from the coming Calamity.

They make their way up the stairs to a loft room where the bed sits in a corner, dropping sword and shield to the floor with a clamor before falling face first into the soft mattress covered in a quilt. They bring the pillow down and press their face into harshly as memories of the battles fought echo in their head.

'This isn't how things should be. I've lost so much. Given all of myself to this cause and now that it is over.'

A silent sob shakes the prone form and forces their shoulders to their ears.

'Why can't they see me? Even when I,'

Memories of dressing for the mission into Gerudo town and how everyone except the chief saw the person they were. Being treated as a vai by them simply because of clothing, being treated as voe because the chief identified them as the Hero of Hyrule.

Memories flash through their mind once more, memories of the battle in Blatchery Plain where Princess Zelda's power awakened. Their injuries fatal as they fell under the strain of having protected her, protected everyone as best they could from the onslaught of evil that had taken root. They were sure they would die there, but they didn't, they survived thanks to Impa, Robbie, and Purah. They believed that Impa and Robbie had to know but weren't saying anything.

'Those two at least had to have seen, so why aren't they,'

They bury their face deeper into the dampening pillow, trying to make sense of things that no one seems to care about. It didn't matter when they were running all over Hyrule with no memories and the fate of everyone in their hands. Too much was riding on their shoulders to dwell on the fact that no one seemed to know and all of them made assumptions. Now, now that everything was over, the Calamity Ganon defeated and Hyrule brought once more to peace, now Link had time to deal with the consequences of the situation they now found themselves in.

Link lays there for a long while, the sun shifting to low in the sky before they move. As long as they had laid there fully dressed in armor and gear they were now sore and had a crink their neck. Standing they slowly begin to remove everything until all that was left were their pants and their tunic. Link stops as they reach for the edge of the blue tunic that marked them as the Champion of Hyrule, an odor had begun to waft from their person as they had removed things and their nose crinkles in distaste as it seems to linger about them. Deciding it might be best to clean up before going to bed they head out back to the attached bath house and strips out of the remaining clothes there. Now bare in the privacy of their home the gentle curves of hips and the narrow waist that their clothes always covered are revealed only to their owner.

And while the world around her praises his heroic acts, not one person seems to care that they are crushing her spirit and leaving her to forget what she is.

88888888

I hope that gave all of you feels and if you would like to read more, please leave a review letting me know. All it takes is one person saying they want more.


	2. Chapter 2

I had someone comment on the fact that using gender neutral pronouns in the prologue makes Link seem non-binary. That was somewhat my intention to show the internal conflict the character is going through. Link in that chapter is confused about who she is. Keep in mind that she has not had a chance to process a lot of what has happened to her at that point. She had just defeated the Calamity Ganon and still had at least partial amnesia from the hundred years she was in the Shrine of Resurrection. The fact that everyone is calling her 'him' is only adding to the crisis of identity she is suffering. This chapter takes place after Link has had some time to herself to come down some from her identity crisis and so there won't be as many gender-neutral pronouns being thrown around. I hope that this explanation clears some things up and helps you better enjoy the rest of the story.

88888888888888888

Word had spread of the fall of the Calamity Ganon and the return of not only Princess Zelda but the Hero of Hyrule. As such Link found herself being called to attend meetings in various towns and villages around Hyrule as Zelda travelled to gain help in rebuilding not only the castle but Castletown. Some were more eager to lend aid to the kingdom than others, it had been one hundred years since the Calamity Ganon had taken root and many were not impressed by a princess coming from nowhere and trying to take back her place as leader. Though some villages and towns were more than happy to lend their aid in rebuilding Castletown, specifically Kakariko, the Zora, the Gorons, the Geruda, and the Rito. The alliance they once had had been represented by free trade in the center of the kingdom of Hyrule in Castletown. With the area now back under the control of the Hylians they knew it would be best to lend aid to return the trade city to power.

Link meanwhile was being dragged around by Zelda in the hopes to convince those that did not feel the need to bow down to a long-gone monarchy. The princess was adamant that they all not only owed her for holding back the Calamity Ganon for one hundred years, but that since she was the rightful heir to Hyrule she deserved their loyalty. Link held her tongue at each biting and scathing remark the princess made toward people that had never known a central ruler. She actually sympathized with many of them, having made friends during her travels to restore the four divine beasts and bring an end to the Calamity Ganon.

They had just arrived in Tarrey Town after many weeks of going from town to town in order to get village leaders to send people to help in the rebuilding of Castletown. Zelda almost hadn't even thought to come here until Link informed her of the new settlement. She had been astonished that the settlement existed and was perhaps slightly outraged since she saw the land as still belonging to Hyrule and no one had applied for the settlement.

"Honestly, they can't just build wherever they wish. There are proper channels that must be gone through before anyone should have been building there."

Link followed along silently behind the fuming princess, not sure how to calm her down. She understood why no one had asked for permission to build the settlement, who would they have asked. The town was actually doing very well and as far as she had seen no one was really upset by it being there. Except for Princess Zelda.

"They'll all just have to move. When Castletown is rebuilt they can go there."

Link's eyes widen at Princess Zelda's statement and she jogs to get in front of her. She puts her hands out to stop the Princess, a slight look of panic on her face.

"What is it? I don't understand why you would be upset over something like this its not like it isn't something my father would do."

Link winces at the truth in that statement but still tries to get across her point.

Zelda meanwhile just places a hand on her hip and glares at her knight. "Why does it matter to you? You should be glad that I'm moving them to Castletown. Besides you are their hero, you saved them as well from the Calamity Ganon that would have ravaged the land even here."

Dropping her hands and shoulders at the princess's stubbornness, Link lets out a resigned sigh before stepping aside for Zelda to continue on toward Tarrey Town. As Zelda passes she follows the princess with her eyes before reaching up and rubbing the back of her head. With no one paying her any mind the exhaustion can be seen on her face. As Zelda had been rampaging around trying to collect aid from people to rebuild Castletown, Link had been forced to try and mitigate anger caused by the princess at her assumptions that people would and should just bow down to her. Things had changed and Link understood that, but Zelda seemed oblivious to it and her diplomatic skills were greatly lacking. It had mostly fallen on Link to soothe egos and keep people from lashing out at the princess and he just knew that the people of Tarrey Town wouldn't be any easier to convince of the rightness of a long-forgotten monarch and how they all should bow down to what said monarch demands. Heaving another sigh Link follows after Zelda in hopes that some of that wisdom she was supposed to have would show, because the longer she followed the princess around the more she wondered if the power she displayed in repelling the Calamity Ganon was a fluke.

Arriving in Tarrey Town had Link hurrying her steps a bit as Princess Zelda storms her way into town.

"I wish to speak to the one in charge here."

The demand was met mostly with blank stares as the residents of Tarrey Town blinked at the demand. A few of them looked around before their gaze settles on a stocky man standing next to a Geruda.

Looking nervous the man steps forward. "I suppose that would be me, Miss." It was then that he noticed Link behind the princess and his nervous air seems to shift away as he smiles at the sight of his friend that had helped him build the town. "Link! It's good to see you again."

Link waves slowly at Hudson, her gaze only just shifting from the slowly angering princess she was there to serve.

"You know these people? I suppose you would, you are their Champion as well. I'm sure you've tried to tell them they can't just build a town where ever they want."

Link went to raise her hands to placate Zelda, or to defend the townspeople, she wasn't really sure anymore which she was meant to do at this point.

"That's not a very nice way to talk to someone Miss. And what would give you or anyone the authority to tell us where we can and can not build a town."

"He is my personal knight and I will talk to him as I please. As for the authority to tell you where you can build, as the Princess of Hyrule it is my birthright to lead the people of Hyrule and that should be all the authority I need to tell you that you can not build here. As of this moment I am ordering all of you to move to Castletown and to help with the rebuilding."

The townspeople look between each other in shock and surprise at the order, many beginning to grow angry at the arrogance of the young woman before them. Link attempts to get Zelda's attention before things get worse when Rhondson steps forward and places a hand on her hip as a show of defiance.

"You are the Princess of Hyrule? Off fighting the Calamity Ganon for the last hundred years, you leave your people to fend for themselves against his minions and now you are back and you think you can command us to your will, that we will simply do as you say?"

Zelda's mouth drops open but no retort comes out. After a moment she clenches her jaw shut and lets out a frustrated growl. "That is enough."

"I agree, it is enough. I doubt the other towns have been so easy to convince of your leadership as to bow to your commands. Do not expect Tarrey Town to be any different." Rhondson finish her statement, cutting off the princess, before turning to Link and raising an eyebrow at her. "And you are truly her knight. I find it hard to believe that one such as you would serve someone so arrogant."

Link looks between the two women, one fuming at being ignored and glaring at her for drawing the attention of the other woman to herself when Zelda was not done speaking yet, the other looking on curiously at the champion that had become a good friend since the Geruda had moved to Tarrey Town. Heaving a sigh and hanging her head Link goes to respond before Zelda just cuts her off.

"Arrogant! How dare you? Link is the Champion of Hyrule and my personal knight assigned as such by my father the late King Rhoam. He does as I say and so shall you."

Link stands there, mouth agape at the princess. She hadn't changed much since the Calamity struck one hundred years ago. Still the spoiled little girl that felt everything should be handed to her. Link knew that King Rhoam had been harsh on her, pushing her in her training to become the princess spoken of in legend, but what few realized outside of the castle was that she had spent all her time training to take up the power of the Triforce of Wisdom while never learning how to lead a kingdom or even interact with people that weren't there to serve her.

"Hmph, if he is our champion we thank him for saving us, but that is not the same as bowing down to you Princess. This is our home and we will not be moving just because you 'command' it."

Link looks to Rhondson apologetically, she had tried to stop this and now the whole thing was an even worse disaster than when Zelda had tried to get Bolson and Karson to help rebuild Castletown and not offered them any form of payment. Rhondson seemed to have been keeping her gaze mostly on Link though and gave a strained smile in acknowledgement of the apology. It also told her that while she was welcome to come back, she had best leave the princess behind.

Nodding in acceptance Link reaches forward and takes Zelda's shoulder lightly in her grip as the princess gives an unladylike growl before turning and walking out of the town with Link hurrying to keep up with her quick angry strides.

"Honestly, these people, how dare they talk to me like that. And you," Zelda whirls on Link once they are outside the town gates. "Why didn't you say anything to them? Such a useless knight." Link flinches back from the tone and stands there as Zelda continues across the stone bridge leading to Tarrey Town. With another heavy sigh and a glance back at the town Link follows after the princess, knowing she would get lost on the way to the stable to the North if she left her to her own devices.

88888888888888888888

End notes, yay! I hope you all are enjoying my first foray into the Zelda fandom. Also, please do not burn me at the stake for making Zelda a not nice person (don't have a polite way of saying what I wrote her as). So please put down the pitchforks and torches. Are we at least ok now? Good. Alright, so if you are enjoying this I am going to now shamelessly self-promote my other stories, please check them out. As a last bit of shameless self-promotion, I have also written an original novel that is in its final stages of editing before I begin the process of getting it published. Please keep an eye out on my profile for announcements regarding it if you think you may be interested in reading it.

That's everything then, please leave a review or comment and I'll be sure to have another chapter ready soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Going to be honest, I've gotten some pretty odd reviews in the past and certainly had people complaining about pairing or genderbends before. But I'm a bit flabbergasted this time to have received not one but two reviews from, what I assume is the same person, complaining that I need to get over the fact that Link, canonically, is a guy. Yes, I am aware, thank you for telling me anyway. I didn't write this because I wish Link was a girl. I wrote this because I had an idea for a story, and idea to try telling people a what if scenario of what could have been and what might happen where things to have been just a little different. This is Fanfiction, it is a place and a subject where people who are wont to are able to creatively experiment with other people's worlds to create wonderful stories and share them. It really doesn't bother me that someone doesn't like that I genderbent a character that has never and most likely never will be female, because I am enjoying writing this for all of those that do want to see this happen or like the idea that it could happen. So trying to get me stop when others have asked me to continue is not going to stop me. All it does is have me call you out like this before the chapter starts.

Alrighty then, now that I have that out of my system. I hope you all are enjoying this and are looking forward to reading more. Shall we continue then?

88888888888888

It was a couple of days after Link and Zelda had tried to evict the people of Tarrey Town and the two were back at the ruins of Castletown. The Zora, the Gorons, and the Rito had all sent people to help clear the rubble of the city and begin the rebuilding. Zelda still was in a bad mood given that most of the Hylians they had talked to on their journey around Hyrule had refused to offer their help in the rebuilding of the castle and the town surrounding it. Link was keeping her distance from the princess as her foul mood often left her getting a verbal lashing for some slight or another.

Link was currently taking refuge from Typhoon Zelda in one of the cleared out ruins of a house. She was currently playing with the Sheikah Slate and seeing what else it could do that she had not yet learned about from Purah or previous experimentation.

"Ah, here you are Link."

Link jumps slightly in shock at the sound of the Zora prince's comment, nearly dropping the Sheikah Slate while reaching for a weapon that was not on her person.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Sidon holds his hands up in a gesture that shows he is unarmed before seeing Link relax. Once she has she puts away the tablet and moves to fully stand from the half crouch she had gotten into after being startled.

"Oh, no need to get up on my behalf. In all honesty, I, as well as a few of the others, were wondering where you had run off to."

At Link's worried look the prince gives a small smile.

"Do not worry. The Princess is still fuming about the lack of respect her people are giving her. I doubt she'll think to come looking for you anytime soon."

Link's shoulders relax from the guarded position they had raised up into upon thinking the Princess had noticed her absence. With a heavy sigh she goes to get up anyway though. If people were beginning to wonder where she was then it was only a matter of time before the princess came looking for her knight herself.

"Link?"

Link turns to look at the Zora prince, raising an eyebrow at his questioning tone.

"Is everything alright?"

Surprised by the question, Link has to take a moment to think of her response.

"I know it may seem rude, we don't know each other all that well, but you just seem distant. More so than usual at least."

Link smiles just a little bit at the Zora before shaking her head. She didn't think it rude at all. Though when she thinks about his comments and his question the smile slides off her face before she turns to look at the ground. It wasn't like everything was fine though. It seemed that even though the Calamity had been averted she still felt lost. Ever since she first woke up to this new time, her memories lost to her, she had felt like she was missing something. Even now with some of her memories returned to her she just felt inadequate to the task ahead of her.

"Perhaps you just need a vacation."

Link blinks down at her feet at the comment. A vacation?

"Yes, I think that after all of the hard work you have put in saving us all from the Calamity Ganon that you deserve a vacation. Just leave it to me. I will talk to the princess for you and let her know that you will be taking leave while she organizes getting the castle and town rebuilt."

As Sidon turns away from her Link just stands there dumbfound and slowly reaching out for the prince in a desperate attempt to stop him, though it was not heartfelt in the least. Sidon did not take any notice of her silent plea for him to not set off the bomb barrel that was Princess Zelda.

Princess Zelda had not been happy with the request that Link be allowed to take a vacation. However, in the face of Prince Sidon even the princess found herself able to put up much of a fight on the matter and Link soon found herself making her way home to Hateno Village. Prince Sidon had volunteered to travel with her and make sure she actually began her vacation. At least that was his excuse. Link was half convinced he just wanted to get away from the Princess as much as she did and used her as an excuse to do so.

"So this is where you live?" Prince Sidon was looking around the village as they came in through the gate. Link gives a nod before motioning up a stepped walkway to the right of the gate near the general store. When Sidon doesn't seem to understand the motion Link let's out an amused sight before making her way up the steps and toward the three colorful homes that were located at the top of the hill. She continues past them after checking that Sidon is following her and makes her way across the bridge that leads to her house.

"Ah, I see, so this is your home."

Links nods once more and sees that Bolson and Karson must be elsewhere as they are not currently sitting by the fire outside her place. Walking up to her door she pauses before opening the it. She looks back at the prince then to her house and realizes that the ceilings are a bit too low to invite the tall Zora into her home.

Taking notice of her dilemma, Sidon takes a slight bow before pointing to the pond behind the house. "I realize your home may not be able to accommodate me. Allow me to stay there while we are here."

Still concerned that her hospitality will be questioned she looks between him and the pond and worries her bottom lip.

Seeing this Sidon kneels down on one knee and gives her a disarming smile. "No need to fret. I more or less invited myself along. I can't expect you to be able to put me up while I am imposing on you. It is late, you should rest. In the morning we will try to see what sorts of things there are for you to do on your vacation."

Without even waiting the prince turns and heads for the pond. Link unsure of what to do suddenly realizes something she can offer the prince and quickly puts together a meal for the two of them before rushing out to the pond where Sidon is making himself comfortable.

"Is there something the matter Link?"

Link shakes her head and walks over with the two plates of food she had carried out from inside, holding them up so that Sidon can see them.

"Ah, yes, I suppose dinner would be nice before we turn in for the night. Thank you Link."

She hands him the plate and nods before sitting down beside the pond and picking at her own plate. Sidon notices her melancholy and sets his half eaten meal aside.

"Link, I know that the pressure to be what others expect of you can be a great burden. I just want you to know that I am your friend and that come what may I will always be here to help you in anyway I can."

Link looks up at him and manages to give him a smile in thanks for his friendship.

"Alright then eat up. We have a day of fun ahead of us and I would hate for you to go to bed hungry."

Still smiling Link begins eating her meal as Sidon picks his plate back up and settles into it as well. The two manage to finish in a comfortable silences before Link stands to take the empty plates back into the house. Sidon doesn't say anything as she goes, only watching her go back into her house.

Quietly he says to himself, "I hope that I am able to help you with whatever is bothering you Link. I am concerned that the burdens others have placed on you may be too much for you on your own."


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was shining on the waves at Hateno Beach as Prince Sidon swam about in the water just off shore. Link sat on the shore in her hero's tunic and a pair of shorts that she had scrounged up from somewhere. Her toes digging in the sand as she watches the Zora prince enjoying the water.

When she had woken up Sidon had already been up for a while and had talked to the people of the village to gather suggestions for how one would usually spend their time off. The villagers had helpfully told him that many of them would go to the nearby beach and have picnics or go swimming in the waters of the Necluda Sea. Amazed at the idea of swimming Sidon had quickly suggested the idea to Link once she woke up.

Heaving a sigh at the memory Link picks up a nearby stick and begins to poke at the sand. It wasn't that she didn't want to go swimming, it's just that short of putting on the Geruda outfit she had gotten to get into the desert city she didn't have anything even close to being good for swimming in. Sure their was the Zora armor, but that was armor and this was meant to be something fun and relaxing. Armor was not relaxing.

She supposed she could buy something but there really wasn't much she could buy. Most of the shops sold everyday clothes, not ones for leisure. Maybe that clothing designer in Kakariko would make something for her if she asked nicely.

A splash in front of her had her bringing her head up and focusing on Sidon as he makes his way out of the water and toward her.

"Is everything alright Link? You don't seem to be enjoying yourself very much."

Link gives a shrug. By this point she knew that speaking up wouldn't get her anywhere so she decided it just didn't matter anymore.

"I suppose swimming isn't really something you enjoy after all the trouble water has given you on your journey." Link was surprised at the comment but quickly realizes he must be referring to when she stopped the rampaging Vah Ruta. "There is still that picnic though." Link is jarred from her thoughts on past battles as Sidon reaches over to the basket he had brought down with them.

"I wasn't sure what sorts of things you would want for a picnic so I asked the man in the general store what people tend to bring and he told me that dried meats, cheeses, and smoked fish were the most common as well as fresh bread. I was able to get a selection that I hope is to your liking."

Confused at the thoughtfulness, seeing as how when they travelled Zelda usually left things like gathering provisions to Link, she blinks before giving the prince a small smile in thanks. She honestly couldn't remember much about her time before being appointed Champion and she wonders if she and her family ever sat on this beach to enjoy the sand and sun with a picnic. She mechanically takes the bread and cheese that Sidon hands her before setting them on her lap and gazing out at the bright waters of the sea, her smile fading to a melancholic look.

"Link?"

Link shakes her head to drag herself out of lost memories and what ifs to look at the prince who was by now giving her a concerned look.

"I'm sorry for being presumptuous, do you not like them?" He motions to the food on her lap and she looks down with a shake of her head. She really should stop spacing out on him like that. He had to be getting annoyed by it.

"Is there something troubling you then?"

She looks out to the sea then back to Sidon before thinking about his question. There were lots of things on her mind that had her troubled. She hesitates to say anything though but it seems Sidon truly wants to know and is patiently waiting for her to answer before saying anything else.

"I can't remember my family."

Her voice is quiet and whispery, years of disuse having left it weak.

Sidon's usually cheerful expression shifts further into a worried frown at the soft admission. He turns from looking at her to look out to the sea before speaking.

"We could try to find them. They may only be their descendants but it shouldn't be too difficult to locate your family, right?"

Link shakes her head. One thing that she did remember was the house she owned up in the village. She had faint memories of growing up there, a sense of familiarity. According to Bolson the house had been long abandoned after the owner had left to report to the Castle around the time of the rise of the Calamity Ganon. Which meant her family was gone before she left to become Champion of Hyrule or any family she had had come with her and most likely did not survive the initial attack if they had been in the castle or surrounding town.

"I see, they were most likely near the castle when it fell. Of course you must have realized this." The prince sounded sad, but was not pitying or condescending in his tone, it was almost apologetic and she is glad for it.

Link gives a nod to show him his thoughts are correct before picking up the bread and cheese she had been ignoring on her breaks the bread in half using her fingers to pull it apart before taking the thick slab of cheese and laying it inside. She then reaches into the basket for some of the dried meat and lays that on top of the cheese before closing the sandwich and taking a bite.

Sidon takes notice of her more relaxed state and takes out some of the smoked fish and biting into it himself.

The two sit like that, eating their meal and relaxing in the sand on the beach. Even when the food is finished and the sun begins to descend toward the horizon they stay seated in companionable silence.


	5. Chapter 5

It was midafternoon when Link stands from the beach and brushes the sand from her legs and shorts. She makes a displeased face at realizing the salty spray from the beach and knotted and tangled her hair in a sticky mass, she would need to wash it when they got home.

"Is it time to go back?"

Link looks over her shoulder at the Zora prince before nodding.

"Then let us go." Sidon quickly gets to his feet and is happy to see that even though she is still melancholy, the tension in Link's shoulders seems to have lessened some from earlier in the day.

The pair make their way up the steep road back to the village, arriving just as mothers are calling their children and husbands to dinner. Link stops at the general store on their way past to her house and picks up several items to cook for their dinner. Once across the bridge she motions to the pond for Sidon to wait for her and then goes inside to cook them something.

As with the night before she takes the food out to Sidon in the pond and they eat in a comfortable silence and watch the sun set over the hills leading to the castle in the distance. Giving a yawn Link realizes that the day must have worn her out more than she realized. She stands with a stretch and mines sleeping in answer to a questioning look from Sidon.

"Ah, of course. I'll just sleep out here if you don't mind, your pond here is actually quite nice."

Link nods with a smile and heads inside, though she stops at the door to the bath house built onto the back of her home. A hand goes to her head and feels the knots there once more and she heaves a bit of a sigh before going inside. She was too tired to bother with a bath now, glad though that she kept her hair fairly short at least.

In the morning Link makes her way to the bath house and begins filling the tub. She checks on Sidon but he simply waves to her as he walks into town. Perhaps to ask after other things they can do today to help her relax. Not overly concerned with the prince's intentions she carries her bath things to the back of her house and bath house attached there. Once inside she strips out of her clothes and lowers herself into the bath she had filled earlier that morning. The water was tepid, not hot nor cold, just a little bit cooler than the air outside thanks to the water tank that was housed in the tower attached to her house. In the winter fires could be lit to warm the water to a comfortable temperature while in the warmer months it was kept cool by the brick and plaster that shielded it from the sun.

Grabbing the washcloth she had brought with her, Link begins to wash herself of the sand and salt still hiding in the creases and crevasses of her skin. Once most of that had been washed away she dunks her head back and under the water to begin scrubbing at it with her hands. The knots and tangles from the day before had worsened in her sleep and she struggles now to comb them out with deft fingers. It takes longer than she would have liked but eventually most of the tangles have been worked out and she lets herself take a moment to just relax in the tub.

WIth a sigh she moves to get out and reach for a towel. A knock on the door to the bath house has her looking up while half out of the tub.

"Link." The door swings open to reveal Sidon crouching down outside the door to the bath house mouth open to continue whatever he was planning to say. The two lock eyes for a brief moment while Link's cheeks begin to turn bright red, meanwhile Sidon is frozen in shock at what has just been revealed.

"Out." It's quiet and would have been easily missed if not for the silence that had fallen between the two. Sidon quickly manages to pull the door closed and his muffled voice can be heard explaining to someone outside that Link will be just a moment.

Still fighting the embarrassment of being walked in on Link manages to dry off and get dressed before stepping out into her yard to see Temba waiting with Sidon, who seems just as flustered by what just happened as Link herself.

"Ah, Link. There you are. I have come on behalf of Princess Zelda to summon you back to Castletown."

"What, but why? She told, him that he was to take some time to recuperate from his battle with the Calamity Ganon." Sidon's hesitation at referring to Link as a man wasn't caught by Temba, but Link herself did take notice of it.

"I know, and I agree with you that he should be allowed time to recover, but the Princess has given her order and she would prefer the Champion return to Castletown to be seen by the people."

Her should falling Link nods, though whether either of the men take notice of it she isn't sure and doesn't bother to check. Instead she makes her way around to the front of her house so that she can gather her things and prepare to head back to Castletown.

"It's only been a few days, what could have caused the Princess to change her mind so quickly?"

Link is wondering the same thing, but only half listens to Temba's response as she leaves the door open in order to keep an ear on the conversation.

"It would seem that after Link left many of the people that the Princess had managed to convince to move to Castletown and help with it's rebuilding began to question why their Champion was absent. It is putting a strain on her authority to not have him standing at her side and so she has recalled him."

"She told you this."

Link walks out with her things and see Temba shake his head in response to the question. "No, she didn't need to. Those of us that have been working with her can see that she is stressed from the work of rebuilding her kingdom, it certainly doesn't help matters that her people are reluctant to bow down to her. They have spent the last hundred years without a ruler, it makes sense that the void left by her father's death and her absence would have been filled in that time."

Link stops a few steps from the two at Temba's conclusion. It made sense. If Link was feeling the pressure to be the Champion then Zelda must be as well. Her memories from before everything went sideways let her know that Zelda had felt the pressure then as well. Having the weight of the world resting on one's shoulders was not something that could be done with no consequences after all. Squaring her shoulders she told herself she would do what she could to help the princess and steps towards the other two.

Neither takes notice of her right away so she reaches up and lightly touches Sidon on the elbow to get his attention.

"Ah, are you ready then Link?"

She nods and turns to Temba.

"Well then, we should get going, You have a horse?"

Another nod and link makes her way to the inn where she had stabled Epona during their visit. The stable here at the house hadn't been fully repaired and so she had been forced to stable her at the inn.

"I'll be taking the waterways to return as swiftly as I can perhaps I can talk to the Princess and," Link had jogged back over to Sidon and was shaking her head after stopping him in the middle of his comment.

"Ah, but Link," Another shake of her head before she braces herself to speak. Sidon beats her to it though. "I understand you wish to help the princess, but you need to take care of yourself as well." Link nods in understand and then motions towards the inn as a way of telling him that she would only be a moment to grab Epona.

"Alright then, I will meet you there."

"I will be escorting you by air." Link nods to Temba before hurrying off to the stable to gather Epona.

It doesn't take long before she and Temba are on their way, her riding Epona and Temba flying above her. They make it to the ruins of Fort Hateno by lunch and both stop to eat a quick meal before continuing on.

As the sun is beginning to get lower in the sky they approach the Eastern side of the pass through the Dueling Peaks. It still was not so late that they could not make it to one of the stables on the far side before night fell, but Temba had them stop regardless.

At her questioning look for the delay, Temba scratches at his cheek somewhat sheepishly.

"I must admit I admire your courage Link. The princess has been in a foul mood since she began the rebuilding, yet you are there beside her at every step. I know that Prince Sidon had to have been the one to suggest your vacation, he is even the one that spoke to the princess about it."

Link shakes her head to stop Temba from continuing. She understood what stress and expectations could do to a person. She had seen King Rhoam deliver harsh words to Zelda in order to try and get her to work harder on preparing for her role in the battle that they had all hoped would save Hyrule from the Calamity Ganon. It made sense that as his daughter she might take on a similar attitude under the stresses caused by rebuilding. It probably didn't help that people were so defiant of her and looked more to their Champion for guidance.

It was hard though to put these feeling into words without showing her own feelings on the matter, the entire reason she refrained from talking to begin with. The whole situation was just backwards and sideways and skewed so far off center that Link worried there would be no way to correct it.

Checking that they still had plenty of time to reach the Riverside Stables, Link clicks her tongue at Epona to get the horse moving. It takes Temba a moment to catch on before he is in the air above her once more and the two are making good time through the pass and toward the Stable where they would spend the night.


	6. Chapter 6

They arrived just before lunch at the work site that marked the rebuilding of Castletown. It seemed that more Hylians had made there way to the town and there were at least a few buildings that had rough framing on them to show that they were being rebuilt. Looking around at the site Link did a bit of a double take at seeing Karson up on some scaffolding working on one of the houses. Another look around showed that Bolson was overseeing a delivery of wood and stone nearby.

Confused, since she recalled Bolson being adamant about not working for free she wonders what had changed his mind.

"Link, there you are."

Link sees Zelda walking over to her from an area where rubble was still being cleared to make way for rebuilding and new construction. At her call though, about half the people there stopped their work and turned to the champion.

"I am sorry for interrupting your leave. It's just,"

Link holds up a hand to stop the princess and nods, hoping she can pick up that she isn't bothered by it.

"Still, I know I have been difficult lately, it's just so many things have changed."

Another nod from Link has the princess sighing. "Come then, let's have lunch and talk." She motions for Link to follow her and the two are soon a short distance from the majority of people in a building that looked like it had had a roof hastily built onto it. Under that roof were three logs, one large and covered in a cloth acting as a table and two smaller ones next to it to act as chairs. In the corner of the structure was a pile of blankets made up as a bed.

It takes Link a moment to realize this must be where Zelda had been living since beginning her efforts to rebuild Hyrule.

"I know that my temper has been making an appearance over the last few weeks. I hope you can forgive me for taking them out on you. I will try to be better now that I've realized it. It's just, it's so hard. I'm used to people listening to me when I ask things of them, but it seems that very few are willing to listen these days. Shortly after you left I realized I may have been going a bit too far in my attempts to bring things back to how they were before everything became a disaster." Link gives her a slight look that has the princess blushing. "I may have yelled at Impa's granddaughter and made her cry when she dropped a box of nails." Link let's out a sigh before focusing back on Zelda. "Once I realized that I was more pushing people away than bringing them together I sent out letters of apology to those I had offended in my quest for aid for Castletown. After the letters were sent out I began seeing a response by having people show up to help with our efforts." Link nods, realizing that must be why she saw Bolson and Karson out there working.

"Which is also why I called you back here. It would seem that many of these people were helped by you directly and they have been asking after you and wondering why when you travelled with me before, you were now nowhere to be seen." Zelda lets out another heavy sigh. "It would seem that you have won many hearts on your journey to save Hyrule and the people know this. So I must ask a question of you, and I hope you will take your time to consider it. Before everything went wrong, we were close and I was wondering if now that everything has been ended and peace is being brought back to Hyrule, if you would be willing to," Zelda pauses and Link is both curious and slightly concerned that she already knows what the princess is asking of her. "I was hoping that you would stand by my side and rule Hyrule as it's king."

Link's eyes widen and her mouth opens slowly, she isn't sure how she can respond to this.

Before she can even protest the request though, Zelda is standing and walking away. "Please consider my request, but I know that with you leading at my side we can make Hyrule prosperous once more."

Zelda walks away, back to overseeing the construction and clean up of the town and leaving Link sitting there with an even heavier burden on her shoulders. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes as she thinks over everything the Princess had just told her.

Hyrule needed a leader that the people would support and Zelda knew that. She also knew that the people loved their champion, the one that had done so much for them despite Link's own problems being set aside for the greater good. It was a logical conclusion to see that the two of them would make for a well balanced leadership. They also had been close before and Link still felt that connection, even if she didn't realize that clearly Zelda felt something slightly less platonic. Link grabs either side of her head and closes her eyes tightly in frustration.

She couldn't marry Zelda though. It was bad enough that this lie of her being a man had continued to persist. She wanted to stand up for herself and just tell people, but she couldn't. It had been months now since she woke up and everyone had been calling her 'him' and she hadn't bothered to correct anyone back when she was running around to save Hyrule, it just didn't seem important at the time. Now, it seemed that not correcting people back then was leading to the same problem she had when she was first chosen as the Champion of Hyrule. Women didn't join the military and they weren't soldiers. She may not know exactly why no one from her past knew her as a woman but it had cascaded to lead up to this moment and Link just didn't know what she could do.

The Princess hadn't made the proposal public, which at least was something of a blessing. It meant that Link could say no and explain to Zelda why she couldn't marry her. It would most likely lead to a lot of anger from the princess and could jeopardize their friendship, but Link didn't see much choice in the matter. She just hoped that Zelda would forgive her for not saying something sooner.

It is nearing sunset when Link gets a chance to talk to Zelda alone. She saw Zelda heading to her shelter and follows her quickly.

"Link, there you are." Link stops at hearing her name and looks around to see who called her. It's Prince Sidon. "I've been trying to get a moment to talk to you all day. It's about what happened before we departed your village."

Link begins to turn red at the reminder of what Sidon had done and her gaze quickly goes from his face to her toes as she tries to erase the memory.

Sidon at least seems to realize that bringing up his trespass had made Link uncomfortable so he stops a few steps from her. "I feel we should talk in private. I honestly wasn't sure how comfortable you would be talking about it with others around."

Link manages to nod her head before pointing off toward an area with few lights that should be far enough from those that were preparing for the evening. Together the two make there way over there and Link gets herself comfortable on a wall that is broken in such a way as to have a tall section and a low section. She takes the high section and motions to the other for Sidon. Once both are seated Link and Sidon are mostly level. They sit in silence for a long while before Link manages to speak first.

"I'm sorry, I should have said something."

Sidon seems surprised at Link's apology and shakes his head. "No, I should be the one to apologize, I did walk in on you after all. Though, I must say I am curious about why you never said anything. I mean, it's just that everyone seems to treat you like a man so I assumed that was how you wished to be addressed."

"It's not." Link sighs and brings her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them to rest her head on them. "I don't remember why or how it started, but even back before everyone thought I was a guy."

"So, why did you never correct us when we addressed you incorrectly?"

"It wasn't important."

"It wasn't?"

Link shakes her head. "Had to save Hyrule."

Sidon sits there with shock on his face at the answer. "Do you plan to continue letting people think what they wish, even if it's not who you are?"

Another shake of Link's head has Sidon letting out a deep sigh. "How do you plan on telling them then?"

Link shrugs.

"I see."

"I have to tell Zelda."

"Hmm?" Sidon looks confused at the comment. "She doesn't already know?"

Another silent shake of her head.

"But you feel she needs to know, is this because I found out and you want her help in correcting everyone's assumptions?"

A shake of the head is all he gets as an answer.

"You aren't going to tell me are you?"

One last shake of her head and she turns to look at him. "Sorry."

He studies her for a moment before nodding in understanding. "I understand, it must be a personal matter. I apologize for prying."

Link reaches out and takes Sidon's hand to get his attention back in her direction as he had looked away. "Thank you."

Sidon lets out a huff and smiles back at her. "I hope that the princess is understanding, I can't imagine this will be easy for her to accept."

Worry gnaws at Link's insides as she thinks about having to face down that hurdle, but she shakes her head before slipping off the wall and motioning in the direction she knew Zelda's shelter to be.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have held you up from talking to the Princess about this." Sidon stands as well and give Link a reassuring look. "Once you have things smoothed out with the princess, please let me know. I'm not sure how I can help in letting people know the truth, but I would like to help."

Link gives the prince one last smile before turning away and making her way toward Zelda.


	7. Chapter 7

When Link comes up to Zelda's shelter she stands outside the crumbling walls of the structure that Zelda was currently making home. It took her a moment to gather the courage to just knock on the door frame to announce her arrival.

"Hello?"

Zelda looks around the door and sees Link before she can respond.

"Oh, Link, it's you." Link rubs the back of her head and nods before motioning to the door in a request to enter.

"Of course, come in." She steps aside to invite Link in and the two quickly find themselves sitting at the table. Link is looking around, trying to delay the inevitable but Zelda seems to want to dive right into it.

"I suppose you've come with an answer about my proposal."

Link hesitates before nodding her head, turning her attention to the princess. For once she waits for Link to speak first, even though it takes her a moment to find the right words.

"I can't say yes."

"Oh, I see." Zelda looks down at her lap her fingers tightening in the fabric of her pants and Link can also see her biting her lip.

To get her attention Link lightly taps the table, causing Zelda to look up at her.

"I can't, I'm not," Link struggles for the words, but Zelda seems to think she already knows why Link is telling her no.

"You like someone else don't you? I mean I understand, you must have met someone on your travels around Hyrule, or some thing. I'm sorry, it was silly of me to think you felt the same way I do."

Link taps the table again with a bit more force. "It's not that."

"It's, not? Then why?"

Link huffs out a sigh. "I'm a girl."

Zelda just stops and stares for a very long moment before her gaze drifts down to Link's chest, causing her to blush at where she can see the princess's gaze shifting.

"I, you're a girl?"

Link nods, picking at the hem of her tunic.

"You never said anything."

Again Link nods, her blush growing darker at the embarrassment of trying to explain things.

"Why?"

"Wasn't important."

"Link," Zelda heaves a sigh herself before squaring her shoulders and sitting back straight. "I see, I thought when you confided in me before that there was more to what you said. Do you remember what you told me."

Link nods her head, she had found Zelda's diary after all with a short explanation of a conversation the two shared. Then she shrugs and wiggles her hand to show she remembers some of it.

"Well, you told me that the reason you spoke so little was due to the pressures everyone put on you to be our champion, to save Hyrule. I think, that when you first were found to be the champion everyone was expecting you to be something that you are not. Every champion up until now has been a man, the expectation would be that this time you would be as well."

Link nods, the explanation did fit with what she knew.

"I'm sorry, it seems I've not only made you uncomfortable, but I've made a fool of myself as well."

Link shakes her head as a means to negate Zelda's harsh words regarding herself.

It takes them a while, but the silence between them, wherein Zelda is able to reflect on things has her wondering.

"Link, when Impa and Robbie placed you in the Shrine of Resurrection, wouldn't they have noticed that," Zelda motions to Link in a way to indicate that she knew how the shrine had to operate. The reminder has Link blushing worse than when Sidon had brought up his own misstep. "I wonder why they did not say anything."

Link shakes her head, not knowing herself. Both Impa and Robbie had made it clear that they still thought of her as a man. So what was the explanation.

"I will be sure to ask them both next time I see them. In the meantime, I feel we should straighten things out with people regarding this matter. Have you any clothes that might help convince people more easily?"

Link's thoughts go to the Geroda outfit she had used to gain access to the Geruda city and how she wasn't very comfortable wearing it. Zelda must have noticed Link's reluctance to name an outfit before putting a finger thoughtfully to her chin.

"I suppose we will just have to find you something more suited to your tastes until we can find someone to take your clothes in."

Link looks down at her clothes, pulling at the tunic. They mostly fit her rather well. She supposed the pants could use a bit more room in the hips and the waists were always a bit large for her, but that was why she belted things. Still, if Zelda thought that a tailor would be able to alter the clothes so people would stop thinking she was a guy, then what harm could it do to try.

"I may know someone."


	8. Chapter 8

Link was currently traveling to Tarrey Town. It was the day following her confession to Zelda and the princess was keeping to her word to send Link to a tailor to have her clothes fitted to her form as opposed to the masculine cut the clothes had before. Of course, when asked about who she would feel comfortable with tailoring her clothing the only person that came to her mind was Rhondson in Tarrey Town.

Link makes her way through the autumn woods of the Akkala region and soon sees the end of the forest she was travelling through. Coming out of the forest she sees the field where the husks of the ancient guardians still lay. None were active, she had checked after the Calamity Ganon was defeated, they all stopped without the evil power controlling them and fell back into decaying ruin. Even so, she speeds Epona up slightly as they make their way across. On the other side of the lake next to the field is Tarrey Town and she smiles, now eager to talk to Rhondson and have people see Her.

"You want me to take in your clothes?" Rhondson stood with Link at the table that makes up her shop and was set up in front of her home. The Geruda looks confused at the request though and Link let's out a sigh since she should have expected this.

"I had thought at least your Champion's tunic was made for you specifically."

"It was, but they never took my measurements to make it but," Link looks down bashful at having to say so much in public.

"But?" Rhondson's interest had certainly been piqued, more so by Link's shyness at the topic.

"They were made for a man."

It takes the taller woman a long moment to realize what exactly Link was telling her. Once she realizes her mouth falls open into an 'o'. "I see, that must not be very comfortable. I apologize for not having noticed sooner."

Link shakes her head, which causes Rhondson to frown. "Has no one noticed?"

Link hesitates before nodding. "I've told a few people, but everyone always just assumed and I was too busy to correct them."

"I see, well let's go inside so I can take your measurements properly and get your clothes fitted to you. Do you have any other than what you are wearing?"

Link nods and follows Rhondson into her house where Bolson seems to have been relaxing. When he sees Link, he stands up with a wide smile.

"Link, it's good to see you. What brings you to town?"

"She needs her clothes tailored to better suit her. Would you please go outside and watch the shop while I take her measurements?"

"Her?" Bolson seems confused and begins to scrutinize Link, this in turn causes Link to blush and fidget under his gaze. He appears apologetic after seeming to realize something though and turns to his wife.

"I'll leave you two to your privacy then." He makes his way outside, pausing for a moment at the door before stepping out.

"I believe he wished to apologize for also assuming you were a man, but he was not sure if you would appreciate it or not."

Link remains silent, not sure how to take that. She was not used to people apologizing to her for this situation yet.

"Come then, let's get you measured."

In a dark empty space water drips into a smooth mirrored surface that reflects what little light has managed to get down in this place. The mirrored floor was broken up by small piles of rubble that had fallen from the ceiling high above. At one point stands a stone arch that is half crumbled, opposite this is a small island with a single skeletal tree in its center. A figure sits under this tree, looking to the ceiling in a thoughtful pose. They were shrouded in black and their features are hard to make out except for the pair of glowing red eyes that seem to pierce through one's soul. One hand reaches up, fingers spread as though attempting to grab something from above.

"How long has it been that I have been asleep here? I feel your turmoil Hero, it calls to me." The voice is deep and raspy and echoes in the empty space around him.

The shadows shift to reveal a malicious grin on the figure's dark face.

"I'll just need to put you out of your misery then won't I?"

88888888888888888

Ok, so you may have noticed that, something is lurking in the dark, and some of you may also be able to figure out who. So, I want to ask you all a question. Do I continue down this line of the story or would you rather I just end it in the next chapter? If you want to see where I am taking it with this then please let me know. Otherwise I may just rewrite the next chapter and end things there. Please let me know what you want.


	9. Chapter 9

Well, since I didn't get anyone saying no, I'll just go with what I had planned. Enjoy.

8888888888888

Link stayed in Tarrey Town for two days while Rhondson adjusted her clothing. During that time, everyone in the town had learned about Link's true gender and they were finally seeing Her. While it did make her happy to have straightened things out, she still wasn't sure how she felt about all of the apologies she was receiving from people that had always assumed wrongly. Fortunately, no one seemed to be screaming about how they didn't believe she could be a girl, since Rhondson had been quick to take in her Champion's Tunic and her usual pants. She had stared at herself for a long while in the mirror in Rhondson's workshop, looking from all angles to see how much more feminine she looked when her clothes fit her properly. She had never really had a traditional shape to her body, her hips were narrow and her chest had never fully come on, making it hard to see herself having ever wearing standard women's clothing. Thinking about it that had probably been why she had been mistaken for a boy in the first place. Now though, with her clothes properly fitted it was obvious she wasn't a man.

So, she had spent the two days Rhondson had been taking in her clothes in Tarrey town. It was nice to not have anything to do but sit and relax, it reminded her of the few days she and Sidon had spent in Hateno before being called back to Castletown.

"Link?"

Link looks up from her position on the edge of the cliff that juts out over the lake under Tarrey town to see Rhondson looking down at her.

"I've finished with adjusting your clothing."

Link gives a nod and stands up. It was time to go back to her duties as the champion and help with the rebuilding of Castletown.

As the two walk back to Rhondson and Bolson's home, the Geruda speaks up. "Will you be leaving right away to make it back to Castletown?"

Links gives another nod.

"I see. Well I suppose it is your duty to serve the kingdom. I just hope that with everything that is happening you find time for yourself."

Link misses a step in surprise at the taller woman's comment. A few quick steps make up for it and she is looking up at Rhondson, a curious expression on her face.

"You are not very good at taking care of yourself outside of combat. It worries me."

Link gives a shrug which causes Rhondson to heave a sigh.

"I know that you are bothered by everyone thinking you were a voe. To have that confusion last so long, you must have had reasons to not say anything."

Link frowns, there had been many reasons why she hadn't said anything. Not least of which was that saving Hyrule came first. There was just so much that was going on, but when Zelda said that the people might expect them to marry, and had even proposed. She'd had to say something.

The two walk the rest of the way in silence.

Lake Hylia was thrashing. Deep beneath its turbulent water the ruins of a temple sit, darkness pulsing out from them. Those that travelled by made haste to avoid the raging surface that threatened to sweep people into the unnaturally dark depths.

Link was just arriving back at Castletown when Zelda runs up to her before she can even dismount.

"Thank goodness you've returned."

Link looks startled as the Princess seems unusually worried about something.

"It's Lake Hylia. Travelers have told tale of a darkness in it's waters. They also say that it acts as though under a gale when the skies above are clear."

Link sags in Epona's saddle. She understood now. Zelda must have been waiting for her to return from Tarrey Town because she was the only one she could send to fight whatever was causing this strange phenomenon. With a slow nod she agrees though. It wasn't like there were any soldier to be dispatched and Link wasn't sure they would be equipped to handle something like this.

"Oh, thank you Link. I've sent word to the Zora, since whatever is causing this seems to be beneath the surface. I thought they might be able to help you find out what is going on. Unfortunately they have not arrived yet."

Link frowns at that, she had thought that there were Zora helping with the rebuilding of the town, but as she looked around now, most of the work had been done. Perhaps the other races had left the rest to the Hylians that had moved back. Even so this didn't seem like it was a problem that could wait. She still had the Zora armor, that would aid her in finding out what was going on. Perhaps by then the Zora would have arrived and she could get their help in solving things once she knew what she was dealing with.

Link didn't take the time to dismount before she was heading south to Lake Hylia. She hoped this wasn't some dark remnant of the Calamity Ganon. Her grip tightens on the reigns at the thought.

Darkness had seeped into the empty space and was shrouding everything in it's touch. The figure with the glowing red eyes is standing.

"Come Hero, I can feel you getting closer. Just a little more and you'll be free of your suffering."

In his hands he holds a blade of shadows and a shield made of them as well.

"I'm waiting for you Hero."

At Lake Hylia Link is studying the waters with concern. This was not natural. There was something beneath the surface that was leaking darkness. It had tainted the waters of the lake, making them black as pitch. Waves were cresting tall enough to wash over the bridge that spans the lake, and yet the sky was a clear blue, untouched by the darkness in the waters below.

Link gives out an unnerved shudder at the thought of having to go into that.

Regardless, she manages to find a secluded place to change into her Zora armor and begins wading out into the raging water.

It should have terrified her that the moment she stepped into the dark waters, they calmed.

She looks down into the darkness and wades deeper. The water is to her waist when she feels it. Something wraps itself around her ankle. At first it is hardly there but it quickly tightens before yanking at her foot and pulling her down into the inky darkness. She opens her mouth to shout, but only chokes on a mouthful of water as she is submerged. The darkness surrounds her and she can feel her eardrums popping as she goes deeper than she had ever gone before. Her lungs are screaming for air as she is pulled deeper and then suddenly, she stops.

Link feels air around her and gasps before hacking up the water she had swallowed. She is still surrounded in a dark pitch that her eyes can not penetrate but she can breathe once more. Once she catches her breath she makes to stand, then listens for any enemies in the dark. Water drips slowly into water, the soft ting echoing in what she realizes must be a large space. Then she hears footsteps in water. They are making their way toward her and she reaches for her sword and shield, glad to find they had not been stolen away by whatever brought her here.

"Welcome Hero. I'm glad my call was answered so quickly. I was worried I would have to take drastic measures to draw you here, but you just walked straight in."

Suddenly there is light as a soft glow begins to filter through the shadows to reveal and endless rom with a mirrored floor that reflects no ceiling. A tree on an island and a broken archway break up the monotony. Standing before her is a dark figure that looks to be made of the shadows themselves. Grey skin with pitch hair surround two glowing red eyes. The man is dressed in a black tunic with a dark grey undershirt. Black pants, boots, and long black hat complete the dark theme. In his hands he holds a shield much like her own, only made from a shadowy black material. The blade in his opposite hand is a dark twin to her own Master Sword.

"I have been waiting for you Hero. So long I've been waiting down here in the darkness for you to return."

Unnerved Link takes a step back because she has just now noticed how similar she is to the shadow in front of here. Their clothes are different, but his face is nearly identical to her own.

"Such fear of me?" The creature laughs, the dark sound echoing in the vast space that surrounds them. "That's funny."

He, it, she isn't sure what to think of this being, steps forward, a malicious grin splitting it's face.

"I must say though, I like the new look Hero. Much better than that tired old green you've always worn." The outfit the shade is wearing shifts slightly, the tunic changes to match the Zora armor she is wearing, though it remains black, with grey details. The hat shifts into the Zora helm.

As the clothing on the shade shifts so to does his expression as he seems to notice something he was missing before. The malicious smirk is replaced by something curious.

"Hold on a moment now." The shade melts away and Link tenses for a brief moment before a cool breath is blown on the back of her neck and spins around with her sword to swing at the foe now behind her.

He seems to have anticipated the reaction though as his sword is brought up to block hers from striking. She is also able to realize his clothing is back to how it was before.

"My, my, this is quite interesting. It would seem that you are more different than I originally thought." He vanishes again and once more Link tenses in anticipation of where he will appear before she feels arms appear around her, coming in under her arms and the hands poised over he chest. So shocked is she that it isn't until the hands squeeze that she lets out a shriek and spins around to bash the hilt of her sword on the shades head, forcing him to release her.

Blushing brightly she is sure she could light up the entire eternity surrounding them, Link crosses her arms angrily over her chest and glares at the laughing shade as he rubs his head.

"You are then! Aren't you just adorable."

The shade gets to his feet and Link sees him banish his weapons. "I think I'd much rather do something other than battle you with sword and shield."

He vanishes once more and Link feels a hand on her rear, she spins and strikes at him with her sword, even more flustered than before. He easily dodges the blow meant for him and smiles at her with a teasing grin.

"Feisty! I like it." He fades away once more and Link watches as he reappears in the branches of the tree that is in her line of sight.

Link honestly didn't know what to think. Clearly this was what had been causing the problems in Lake Hylia, but why he was doing it she couldn't figure out, nor how to stop him.

"I know that look Hero. I was just trying to get your attention, that's all. I've been down here so long, waiting for you to come find me. When I sensed you, your turmoil, I knew I could lure you to me. I just wanted a fight, but then I actually saw you and I can think of much better ways to entertain myself."

An image flashes through her mind of this dark shade pressing her into the shallow water on the floor. She feels violated at the feeling that come with it and her discomfort seems to draw out another laugh from the shade.

"Well there it is then. You truly are the one I wanted."

"Who are you?" Link internally curses at the tremble in her voice, whether it was from rage or some other emotion didn't matter to her right then.

"Oh, so you speak. That's good to know. I was beginning to think you were mute once again Hero. It will certainly be more fun to hear your voice." The shade fades once more to appear in front of her, bowing slightly in a mocking fashion.

"In answer to your question though, I am your shadow. Or rather the shadow of one of your past selves. I was born in this temple to fight him, but I lost."

"You were trapped here?"

He lets a grin inch onto his face. "Not at that time, no. Once defeated I was no more than his shadow once more. I fought at his side then. Went with him back to his beginning and grew up with him when he was given a second chance. I was his companion through all of that." The grin turns sour and the shade frowns once more. "But shadows can't die and as he aged I remained at his side. Eventually I separated myself and followed his line until crisis fell again. I was sealed here by the Twilight so she could have my spot as Hero's shadow. I have been sealed in here since."

Link shift her weight, uncomfortable with the knowledge the shade is sharing. She didn't understand it, is it something she should remember.

"These things happened an age ago, to a past incarnation. We are still connected as it is your soul I reflect." The frown deepens as her thoughts filter through to him. "Though your concern about whether you should remember has me concerned."

Still on edge, Link glances around for an escape, not sure how she entered this place and knowing that she needed to find the way out.

"So eager to leave." He laughs lowly, "Don't worry I don't plan to keep you trapped down here with me. I just wanted to to come since I can only leave this place with you."

Link stops in her search for a way and glares at the shade. He holds his hands up defensively and she sees the darkness shifting and fading from him, leaving his skin still greyish, but more similar to a natural color. The grey of his clothes shifts to whites, and his eyes lose their glow but remain a deep red.

"I don't mean any harm to those outside this prison of mine. I committed no crime to be imprisoned and I don't plan to do anything like that creep you always fight, Hero." He holds out his hand. "I can take us both out of here. I'm sure your princess is waiting for you to return to her." His eyes sparkle and she gets another image in her mind, this time of her and Zelda holding each other and she has to shake her head to get that out of her mind before she shoots a glare at the shade still holding his hand out to her. "Woops, sorry about that, but I wouldn't mind watching if you two are going to enjoy each other's company."

Link almost takes his hand before he says that and her fist is then quick to find his face instead, knocking him to the ground with a splash.

"Alright, spoil sport. Always the goody goody Hero. Can't even let me have a bit of fun."

In response Link just holds out her hand, to let him know he can take them out of there. She was not going to deal with him for long if she could help it.

The shade sees her hand out and grins as he takes it. He pulls, off balancing Link and causing her to fall into him where he wraps his other arm around her waist. He grins down at her as they begin to sink into the floor and the dark shadows that had gathered beneath him. Link almost panics that she had been tricked as the shadows swallow them up but she soon finds herself on the shore of Lake Hylia, still held by the shade.

Looking to see the lake back to normal she starts to go to get up when she feels the shades hands on her in places they don't belong. Anger surges through her and she punches him in the gut before getting to her feet with a huff.

"So violent."


	10. Chapter 10

The shade had brought both of them up near where Link had left her things and Epona. As he holds his gut and whines about the pain she had inflicted, she checks her bags and pulls out her usual clothing before heading for the cover she had used to change before. Going to pull off the top piece of the Zora armor she pauses before looking up at the top of the crumbling stone wall she had sought privacy behind. The shad was lounging there with a lecherous grin as she had been preparing to change.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just your shadow."

The glare she sent him promised death if he didn't remove himself from her presence that instant. The shade gulps before rolling and flipping down on the other side of the wall.

"Spoil sport."

Keeping track of the shade's location Link quickly changes into her usual clothing and comes out around the wall to see the shade lounging back on the other side. He seemed relaxed but she still wasn't sure whether to trust him or not.

"Shall we go then Hero?"

He opens his eyes and looks at her, still grinning, but this time it was less unnerving and more teasing. She nods in answer to his question and heads over to Epona. It takes her a moment to realize she only has the one horse and it was a day's ride back to Castletown from here. Walking was not something she looked forward to but the Shade had nothing to ride, unless. Her thoughts get cut off as arms wrap around her waist and a cool breath blows on the back of her neck.

"Guess we'll be riding double then, won't we?"

She reacts before she can really think about it and her elbow finds his sternum, knocking the wind from him as he stumbles back from her. Her sword is in her hand and at his throat before she has fully recovered from the feel of his arms around her.

"You're not very used to being touched, are you?" The shade puts his hands p defensively to show he is unarmed and waits for her to pull the blade back from his neck.

It takes a long moment but eventually she does, even as she glares at him. She sheathes her sword and mounts Epona, then waits for him to do the same. The shade approaches cautiously, rubbing at his throat before pulling himself up behind Link.

"I will have to hold onto you if I don't want to fall off." The shade hesitates as he waits for her approval, not sure how she will react if he just grabs her again. A nod from her shows that she understands though and he puts his arms around her once more, his hands actually staying in appropriate places while she nudges Epona into a walk.

Link can feel the shade searching around as they go. She realizes that he must have been down in that prison for a very long time and Hyrule had most likely changed quite a bit since then. She sympathized with that though as she herself had woken up to a very different Hyrule than her memories showed her. The few she had at least. She kicks Epona into a trot.

The shade meanwhile was studying the changes to the land, what truly caught him off-guard was the ruin he saw everywhere. It was worse than what things had been like after he first was created. There was evidence of a great battle having been fought and he looked to the Hero before him and realized that this battle was not recent. Had Gonon attacked before she was there to fight him. If so then these men had died to buy her time to be born, because even he could tell the battle had been fought decades ago and she was still not quite twenty. The thought that she may have been fighting her entire life had him thinking on her reaction to his touch and his presence. She was so jumpy, he wondered if she had always had to fight. Even so it angered him slightly. He knew that Hylians cared little for their Hero as a person. It why they felt no guilt in sending a child to fight a war. He doubted things had changed.

It is late in the day when the pair see Castletown coming closer. The shade took in the crumbled walls surrounding the town and realizes that this must have been where the heaviest of the fighting had taken place. How and why were people still living here. The answer became more clear when they enter through the gate, or what had once been the gate, and he saw the abandoned and ruined structures. Many were being rebuilt but the crumbled walls were covered in growth, edges rounded by weathering. The streets were even overgrown, though you could see that some were being worn in once more as people traveled through.

He mentally nudges at Link about what had happened here and the response is the vision of mechanical creatures crawling over the city, burning and destruction all around. The shade was taken aback because that was a memory she had shared, meaning that even though things looked overgrown, she had been there when the war broke out. Now he wanted to know why, but he didn't get a chance as they stopped in the town square and the person he knew had to be Zelda walks up to them.

"Link, you're back. Were you able to find out what was going on at Lake Hylia?"

Link shrugs and nudges the shade with her shoulder so he knows to dismount, which he does, catching the eye of the princess. Link dismounts after him and nods to Zelda.

"And who is your companion then?"

Link looks at him as if trying to figure out how to explain the shade beside her. Knowing that leaving it to her would take far longer than necessary, he just steps forward to answer for her.

"I'm the one that was causing all the problems. Sorry about that. I was just trying to get someone's attention so I could get out."

Zelda looks at the shade with apprehension after learning that he was the cause of the problems at Lake Hylia. "I see, and why did you need help getting out? If you were powerful enough to gain our attention in such a manner, surly you could have gotten out yourself."

The shade rubs the side of his head as he tries think of the best way to answer that. "I was under a seal, I couldn't leave unless someone I was connected to came and got me. Look Princess, it's not really easy to explain. I'm not going to cause you any problems though. You look like you have enough going on already."

The princess narrows her eyes for a brief moment, studying this new being in front of her. She wasn't sure what to think. He had about him a cocky air and it worried her that he said he could only leave his previous prison if someone he was connected to came and released him. That meant that he was somehow connected to Link.

"And what is your connection to our Champion? You also haven't told me your name."

The shade grins wider as he can see the princess's feathers have been ruffled. "I don't really have a name, as for how we're connected. I'm her shadow. Or more precisely, I'm the shadow of one of the Heroes of Hyrule that have long since turned to legend."

"A shadow?" The princess seemed even more weary at the confession from the shade, concern growing in her eyes. He wondered how she would react, what she must be thinking.

"I see, then I suppose you will need to stay near the Champion so she can keep an eye on you and make sure you are not going to turn on us."

The shade spreads a wide smile across his face while internally frowning. He knew the princess must be suspicious of him, but she had to realize that the person he would pose the most threat to if he turned on them would be Link. This knowledge adds to the anger burning in him for the Hylians. None of them cared for their hero. She was just a tool for them to defend themselves with. One look at Link though and the shade knows she at least aware of what he could do to her, even if he isn't aware that the princess knows as well.

The anger burns hot in his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

With it decided that the shade would stay with Link, Zelda also told the champion to take some time at Hateno Village once more. The rebuilding of Castletown was progressing well and with it being shared that their champion was in fact a woman, the pressure to have Link there was easing. With a potential union no longer on the minds of the people Zelda was more accepted as being the leader of the Hylians as she was comfortable with. This left Link free to return to her vacation that had been interrupted.

Only now she had the shade to look after.

They were riding double once more as Link guides them to the Riverside stable where she could get another horse for the shade to ride. She hadn't mentioned that to him though.

"So, you have a house then?"

She nods before a cross expression settles on her face and she is pinching the back of his hand and pulling it away from where it had strayed. The shade cringes, but takes his punishment before she decides he has been punished enough and lets him go.

"Look Hero, my hands are gonna wander, it's what they do and I haven't exactly had a warm body to touch in a long while. So, if we're riding double during this trip you'd better just get used to it."

The stables come into view as Link pointedly ignores the shade's comment and spurs Epona to hurry up. It takes only a little longer to reach the stables and Link is nearly forcing the shade from her horse so she can dismount herself.

"Uh, why are we stopping? Its barely even lunch."

Link heaves a sigh but goes up to the stable master and presents her paperwork for a black stallion she had gotten during her travels around the kingdom. It isn't long after that before the horse is brought out and saddled, ready for the shade to ride it.

"Spoil sport." The shade sat grumpily on the black horse, that Link had named Dusk. He was following along behind Link on Epona as he glares forward.

They had been on the road for an hour and had yet to reach the dueling peaks. Link knew the shade was unhappy to not be riding double but for a long journey, like the one to Hateno, it would be better for them each to have their own horse. She looks up to the sun and studies its position for a bit before deciding they would stop when they made it through the dueling peaks and arrived at the staples on the far side.

Another thought occurred to her though as she plans out where they will stop for the night. The shade didn't have a name.

"You don't have a name."

"What? Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?"

"You need a name."

"No I don't. I do not need a name. I'm just me, that's all I need."

Link ignores his words though and looks thoughtful as they continue on their way.

"Dark."

"Huh?" The shade looks to his companion, confused and curious. She doesn't say anymore, but his expression goes from being what it was to angry at her. "You can't just name me like some dog!"

Link stays looking forward as the shade begins ranting and raving.

"You are not calling me that! I refuse to let you name me! And what kind of name is 'Dark' anyway? Sounds like something you name a dog or a horse. Of which, I am neither!"

Link continues on ignoring Dark in favor of focusing on the road ahead. Eventually he quiets down, though he remains brooding in the saddle and can be seen glaring daggers into her back.


	12. Chapter 12

It's another day before they reach Hateno Village. Link has Dark stay at her house while she stables the horses at the inn. While left alone at the home he grows curious and decides to take a look around, grinning when he realizes there is only one bed.

After stabling the horses Link returns to her home and is cautious when she doesn't hear anything. She half expected Dark to be making a nuisance of himself. She hoped he hadn't run off, he was her responsibility. Concern creasing her brow she opens the door and steps inside. Not seeing any sign of him she almost heads back out to find him when a sound from the loft has her looking up. She makes her way up the stairs and see Dark lounging on her bed, he must have changed his clothes into a loose shirt and trousers, more appropriate for sleepwear. His grin broadens when he sees her and he pats the bed beside himself.

"We should probably get some sleep Hero, it's been a long day after all."

The look she sends his way tells him she is not amused.

"You only have the one bed." Dark shifts so he is flopped back onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "Are we supposed to argue over who sleeps on the floor or something?"

Link begins to look unsure at his response. He's essentially her guest, she couldn't make him sleep on the floor. Then again, she wasn't looking forward to doing so either. There had been too many nights of sleeping by campfires for her to not want to sleep in a bed when it was available.

"Alright, alright! You're really kinda pathetic, you know that Hero?" Link gives Dark a confused look wondering what he could be referring to. In response, she feels something brush against her consciousness before getting a feeling of growing frustration overlying a deep anger. The feeling passes but she still stumbles back from the shock of it.

"We're connected. I can feel your thoughts and you can feel mine. I've just been keeping mine back from you so you don't get overwhelmed. Since you don't talk much though, I've been using it to know what you're thinking."

Dark sits up on the bed, rubbing at his head. "Look, I'll take the floor, we'll just get a second bed or mattress or something tomorrow." He gets off the bed and walks downstairs, rubbing the back of his head and yawning. Link is still off-balance from learning how they were connected but she looks after him a bit in concern.

"I'll be fine, there are plenty of shadows to sleep in."

With a small nod, she heads over to the bed. Dark watches her for a moment before finishing his trip downstairs. He stretches his arms above his head and takes a look around the small living space. He sees the quaint touches of a home, but it doesn't feel lived in and there is a fine layer of dust over just about everything. His eyes then shift over to the weapons racks that are on three of the four walls. Sword, shields, and bows all neatly organized and well taken care of, even if a bit worn from use.

Knowing he really wasn't going to be sleeping anyway, Dark finds a bucket under the stairs with a rag in it, may as well clean things up.

As morning light filters through the window over Link's bed she groggily sits up and rubs her eyes. Her slow awakening is suddenly broken though as she hears a clatter and cursing coming from downstairs. Eyes now wide she hurries out of her bed and down the stairs to see what is going on.

She is met by the scene of flames leaping from a pan on the wood burning stove and smoke starting to curl up from it. Dark is cursing as he attempts to grab the hot pan but burns his hand instead, causing it to fall. This snuffed out what little fire had formed but also spilled the food all over the floor.

Link is not sure what to make of this scene of domestic chaos. On the one hand Dark had almost burned her house down, and hurt himself in the process. On the other hand it was rather strange to see the unnerving being attempting something so domestic as to cook breakfast, at least she assumed that's what he was attempting to do. Not knowing what other response she can give, she brings a hand up to her mouth to cover it as she tries to hold in a chuckle. Unfortunately for her the sound manages to catch the other occupant's attention and his head whips around to her with a scowl.

"Don't laugh, I was trying to help you out. You can't laugh at me for that."

Link waves her hand slightly in front of her face in a sign of apology, grinning sheepishly behind it. Dark's scowl softens as he grabs a towel and bends over to pick up the fallen pan, only now revealing to Link what he may have been attempting to cook. Even seeing it though it looked like nothing identifiable and she gives it wide berth as she goes to find a dustpan to scoop it up with.

"It's not that bad. I'm sure I'll be able to do better on the next attempt."

Dark's scowl was back as he glares down at the ruined food on the floor. Link looks between him and the mess, dustpan in her hand, and gives him a look that clearly tells him she does not believe him.

"Well I'm not letting you cook for us. People ask enough of you, the least I can do is help out around here with something, and I'm going to cook you something so just deal with it."

Link glances at the half burned mess on the floor then back up at the stubborn shade still standing in her kitchen. The mess on the floor lets out a burpy bubble that has both pairs of eyes widening in surprise. Before Link can move to do anything though Dark is snatching the dustpan from her and scooping the mass of spitting food onto it before she can really react.

"I'll at least clean this up." He grumbles to her on his way out the door that he'd just have to find some other way to help her out around the house since apparently his cooking was more akin to dark magic than culinary perfection.


	13. Chapter 13

After Dark had cleaned up hi mess Link pushed him into a chair at the dining room table and made him sit while she made them a proper breakfast. It wasn't much, just pancakes, but it was better than that dubius food the shade had tried to make.

"Ok, you can cook, but like I said I'm going to help out around here with something." Dark is already getting up and collecting their plates and taking them to the basin in the kitchen. Once there he grabs the bucket from under the counter that he had used last night to clean the place up and makes his way to the door.

Link rests her hand under her chin, elbow on the table, and watches him with an amused smile.

"What has you so amused?"

Shaking her head she stands up and walks over to the wall under the upper floor and points to a pump coming from the wall.

"You have a well pump in the house?" Dark is surprised, but redirects himself to use the pump to get water to clean the dishes. While he is pumping the water Link sends him an image of the tower on the outside of the building and he gets the feeling there is water stored inside it.

"I'm impressed. This is convenient." He sticks his hand in the water, it wasn't overly warm, but it seemed to be warmer than if he had gotten water from the pond. Not worrying about that right now he dumps the bucket in the wash basin and begins to wash the dishes.

"Is there anything I can do when I finish these?"

Link looks up to the ceiling, she had made her way back to the table after showing Dark the water pump and was now trying to think if she had anything the other could do to make himself feel helpful. It was something she wasn't fully used to having to think about, seeing as she was used to being asked to do things for others.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door and she stands to answer it.

"Ah, there you are. I'm Koyin, I don't know if you remember helping me with those monsters that were attacking my sheep, but I was hoping you could help me with another issue I'm having?"

The woman looks to Link hopeful that her request will be answered. Link is nodding when Dark interrupts and comes up behind her, scowling at the young woman standing in the doorway.

He crosses his arms as he speaks. "She hasn't even told you what she needs help with, don't agree to things before you know what you're agreeing to. Idiot Hero." The last is said partly under his breath, but both Koyin and Link are able to hear it and the young woman manages a blush at having left out her request.

"Ah, yes, well, an octorok has moved into my field and it's attacking the sheep and harassing them."

Once she hears the problem, Link is agreeing to help and turns to grab up her sword and shield. She makes her way back toward the door, where Koyin is waiting for her.

"Oh, thank you so much. I'll show you where it is in the field. I can't thank you enough for agreeing to help." Link tries to brush off the gratitude as Dark stands there. Link manages to shoot him a look that he knows means he should stay here. As much as he doesn't like someone asking Link to do something so simple he let's her go with the other woman and turns back to his dish washing. It's not like he had seen many soldiers so it would make sense to ask the only person in the area with combat experience to help with a problem like an octorok. He still didn't like it.

It had been hours since Link left to deal with an octorok in some field. He knew this village couldn't be that large, so what was keeping the hero from coming home. Dark was getting anxious. He didn't like the idea that she might have let herself get dragged into more odd jobs. He knew his heroes, this was the sort of thing they had all been guilty of so far. Helpful to the point it would wind up hurting them in the end. Maybe he should just go look for her.

Link meanwhile had not taken long to deal with the octorok and Koyin had given him several bottles of milk in thanks. On her way home though she had run into a man that was having trouble with weeds in his garden. He had a bad back and wasn't able to pull them out so he asked her to help clear them out. Of course she agreed without hesitation and found herself rewarded with several radishes from the man's garden.

After that she had gone to check the message board to see if anyone else was in need of help and found a message about a lost cat. She went and found the little boy who had posted the message and asked him about his pet. After that she had searched the village all over for the cat. It was fairly late in the afternoon when she found the animal on top of the ancient furnace. It had taken a few tries but she managed to coax the cat down and returned it to the boy. He had thanked her and given her fifteen rupees, his week's allowance, in thanks for finding his cat.

"There you are."

Link turns around from watching the boy run off with his cat to see Dark with a frown on his face behind her. She wondered if he was upset by something.

"You've been gone nearly the entire day."

Worried that hadn't gotten lunch she steps forward and Dark just let's out a deep sigh and rubs his forehead with his hand. "I just ate an apple. That's not why I'm upset though. You were off helping people all day, weren't you?"

She doesn't know why, but for some reason the way he asks that has her growing sheepish, as if she was just caught sneaking cookies from a cookie jar. Heaving another sigh, he grabs her wrist and begins dragging her back to the house.

"You can't just help everyone, sometimes they have to help themselves."

She stares at his back as he pulls her along behind himself, not sure if she should say anything.

"I didn't say anything about the octorok, that's a job for a soldier and seeing how few I've seen around here, well I wasn't going to stop you. But getting cats out of trees, is something people can do for themselves."

They continue in silence from there. Link occasionally glancing at where Dark has her hand in his. It felt nice, comfortable. His skin was warm and calloused but it made her feel like someone cared about her. She shifts her hand so she can hold his more comfortably and smiles at him.

Dark is grumbling to himself in his head about selfless heroes and how they shouldn't be so happy that someone is caring for them for once in their lives. The anger that had been pushed from his thoughts since they left Castletown were back and seething under the surface. He wasn't sure what he could really do for Link beyond just helping her take care of herself. Goddess knows she wouldn't do it herself.

Crossing the bridge to the house though they both take notice of the Zora standing outside waiting patiently. Dark stops at the sight and stares, almost glaring at the person. Link looks over his shoulder curious about what the Zora is there for.

"You must be Link, the Champion. I was sent by Prince Sidon to invite you to a festival we are holding in Zora's Domain. The prince wanted to make sure you knew you were invited, so he sent me to relay his message as he himself is busy with preparations for the festival."

Link steps past Dark and gives a smiling nod to the Zora in acceptance of the invitation before turning to a confused Dark.

"I was expecting something completely different." Link arches an eyebrow at the shade and she scoffs at her. "Don't give me that look."

The Zora had been staring in some confusion at the pair. He of course knew the Champion, but her companion was new and he couldn't help but wonder who he was. "I am sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Gruve, one of Prince Sidon's personal assistants." The Zora gives a short bow and then looks expectantly at Dark.

"Dark."

At the lack of elaboration on Dark's presence Gruve excuses himself and heads on his way back to Zora's Domain after letting Link know the festival is in seven days. As she is seeing him off Dark heads inside and sits at the table waiting for Link to come back inside.

"So, I take it we'll be going to this festival. What's it even for?"

Link nods then shrugs, not really sure and not overly concerned by it. She makes her way to the kitchen and starts dinner.


	14. Chapter 14

When morning greets Link once more by shining through the window she sits up with a yawn. When she had gone to bed again last night she had remembered she had meant to get a bed or at least a mattress for Dark, but had forgotten due to helping so many people out. When she tried to offer the bed to Dark this time she had been surprised when he not only told her he wouldn't kick her out of her own bed but that he didn't sleep much anyway.

It had been hard to fully understand, but she supposed he knew better than she did what his needs were. Still she was going to go and make sure one could be delivered after she made breakfast.

It was a quick trip to the general store at the bottom of the steps leading to Link's house and she smiles as the shop owner greets her.

"What can I help you with today?"

"I need to order a bed or mattress."

The shop keeper raises an eyebrow at first then must realize something as he smiles happily at her. "Ah, yes, you have that other young man staying with you don't you." The shop keeper turns away and pulls out some papers from behind the counter he was standing at. "Is he a friend of yours?"

Link wasn't really sure how to answer that and just gave a noncommittal shrug and so-so gesture with her hand.

The shop keeper lets out a chuckle as he hands her a quill and the papers. "Well, either way all the girls were talking about the two of you yesterday after he dragged you home. You two may be the most eligible bachelors in town."

Link stops in filling in the paperwork for Dark's bed. She quickly finishes and leaves the money for the shop keeper, explaining that she and her friend would be out of town on business for the next week or so and to just have the bed delivered to the house while they were gone.

With that taken care of Link quickly makes her way home. Once there she goes up to her bed and curls up on it. Dark had seen her come in, he was still washing the dishes from breakfast when she came home. He can tell something had upset her and so he wipes his hands and heads up to where she was curled up.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Link gives a shake of her head to dismiss Dark's concern but he just scowls and sits next to her.

"Look, something has you upset and I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me, so just tell me already so we can fix it."

Link looks up at his brash attitude, sighing as she rests her shin on her knees and stares ahead.

"We're eligible bachelors."

"Huh? What the Three is that supposed to mean?"

Link doesn't speak up again but Dark takes the time to think about what she said.

"Wait, they mistook you for a guy?" His irritation was evident in his tone and she looks at him as she nods her head, causing his scowl to deepen. "Who the Three called you a guy! I'll show them,"

The anger rolling off Dark has Link growing concerned. She reaches out to put a hand on his arm to try and calm him down. He turns to her and sees her frowning at him and slumps, anger dissipating.

"It's not right, how could anyone think you were a guy. I mean you're way too cute for that." He still has a scowl on his face, but his anger seems to have been tempered by Link's less aggressive behavior.

"We can head to Zora's domain early."

"Huh?" Dark blinks, confusion clearing away the last of his anger as he tries to figure out what Link is talking about.

"The festival."

"Oh, right, the festival the fish prince invited you to."

She gives him a disapproving look at his description of Sidon and stands up to begin gathering her things for the trip.

"Hey, how come this whole mistaking you for a guy thing doesn't make you angry?"

Link pauses in packing her things to look over her shoulder at the shade. "Even before Ganon everyone thought I was a guy." She turns back to her task and then begins to head down the stairs, pausing at the second step down. "And since I woke up, I've been too busy to correct them. Once I realized I was a girl that is." She continued down the stairs, leaving Dark to consider her words.

If she hadn't even known she was a girl. Dark's eyes narrow and he begins to piece a few things together. Link's gaps in memory at first hadn't seemed, like much, he had just assumed she had to actively share knowledge with him. Standing up he makes his way down the stairs and finds Link packing food for the trip.

"How much can you remember?"

She gives a shrug and closes the bag with food in it. "Not much before waking up in the shrine of resurrection. Most of my memories prior are from after I was knighted and named Champion of Hyrule."

"You fought Ganon while suffering from amnesia!" His temper was beginning to flare again and he only just manages to put it in check due to the look he gets from Link. "Fine, I won't go beat them all up over this, but don't think I'm leaving this be either."

Link nods and leaves out the door, sending to Dark an image of fetching the horses .


	15. Chapter 15

Leaving as late in the day as they had Link and Dark had only just passed Fort Hateno when the sun began to set. Dark could see that Link was growing anxious the closer to dark it got with them out in the open. Using their bond, he looks at what might be causing her to be so tense and realizes she concerned about them running into Stalfos and, men wearing pajamas and masks. He was just about to question that second one when the twang of a bow is heard followed by a high giggly laugh that has Dark cringing from its creepiness.

"We shall avenge Master Kohga."

Dark whips his head around searching for the source of the attack, but stops when he notices Link gripping her shoulder, an arrow sticking out of it.

"Link!" She looks back at him before dismounting from Epona, grabbing clumsily for her sword as it was her dominant shoulder that had been struck. Dark is quick to follow suit and summons a shadow blade, still scanning for the attacker. A slight orange glow begins to form behind Link as she scans for the same thing Dark is, but she doesn't seem to notice the sword rising as the figure forms from the glow.

Dark rushes forward and brings his blade up to block the sword as it swings down at Link. The weight of the impact forces a grunt from the shade, but he manages to force the attacker back from Link.

"Are you alright?"

Link doesn't answer right away and Dark spares a glance from the recovering swordsman to check on his companion. What he saw had him cursing. There was the obvious wound to her shoulder, her tunic darkening where blood slowly oozes from the wound, but her eyes seemed glazed and out of focus. Her grip on the sword in her left hand was shaky and she looked like she may drop it any moment.

Dark turns his full attention back on their attacker, he could recognize the signs of being poisoned easily and fought hard not to let this person know he had noticed. This fight needed to end sooner rather than later if he was going to get Link somewhere safe that could treat her wound. He shifts his grip on his sword and launches himself at the stocky swordsman. The fight doesn't last long and Dark is soon turning back to Link in time to see another arrow rushing at her from behind them. His eyes widen in shock, knowing he won't be fast enough to block it when Link moves, lightening quick and knocks the arrow aside.

Dark Rushes forward and strikes the bowman that had shot Link, cutting him down quickly. As soon as he is sure both attackers have been dealt with Dark turns to Link and finds her struggling to stay upright.

"Link." He hurries over to her and puts an arm around her shoulders in support, she had dropped her sword and her right hand had gone back to holding her shoulder with the arrow. "Shit, we need to get that looked at. Hang on." Dark quickly turns to Dusk and grabs his reigns, looping them to Epona's saddle before helping Link back up onto her own horse's back. He rushes to mount behind her, noticing her tilting to one side. He manages to straighten her once he's behind her on Epona, then nudges Link.

"Look, I don't know the closest place to take you for help, you have to help me out here."

Link blinks slowly, looking ahead and manages to send a disjointed series of images showing the road they were on, a broken stone bridge, a mountain, and finally a village. Dark is quick to push Epona into a gallop, Dusk following the lead of the other horse. Dark curses as the blood from Link's shoulder doesn't stop, though he knows there isn't much he can do about it. Leaving the arrow in slows the flow of blood from the wound, but it also leaves it to jostle around with every stride of the horse.

They make it to the bridge and Dark wishes the horses could go faster even as he is forced to slow down for the crossing. They reach the other side and Dark pushes the horses to go faster as they head up and around the mountain on the other side.

It's late when they make it to the gates leading into the village. Dark doesn't slow down as they barrel into the sleepy village. It's only when Epona stops suddenly, rearing back right before one of the villagers, that Dark hadn't seen they had almost run down, that they stopped. The person they had almost run down was an old man that seemed to have been jogging around the town.

"Hey, there young man, no need to be in such a rush."

The old man looks up from clutching his chest in shock at nearly being run down and his eyes first go to Dark's then he gasps as he sees Link

"We need a healer. Now!"

"That's," He seems to shake himself before turning from the two, Dark almost yells at him before he speaks up. "Follow me, I'll lead you Impa's house. She'll have what he needs there."

Dark bites back a remark about how Link is a 'she' as the old man begins running back down the hill he had been climbing. Dark spurs the horses to follow at the same pace and they are soon at the base of a set of stairs that lead up to the largest house in the village. Two men are standing guard outside and Dark is quick to dismount and bring Link down into his arms. The old man was already talking to the guards, one of whom bolts up the stairs at seeing Link.

"Dorian has gone to inform Impa of your arrival. Please head up to the house and they will help you with the Champion's wounds."

Dark grits his teeth, it wouldn't do to waste time yelling at any of these people. He takes the stairs two at a time and reaches the top quickly. The door is already open and a young woman is waiting inside, worry clear on her face. Behind her Dorian is laying out a bed mat on the floor while an elderly woman is placing a pool of water, clean bandages, and towels beside it.

"Please lay him down on the mat." Dark is finding it harder to not yell at these people, but does as he is told and lays Link on the mat.

"We were ambushed on the road just passed that old fort. She," He pauses and sends glares at all of those present, "Took the first hit and I'm positive it was poisoned."

The old woman stares at him, a hard stare that he knows is meant to intimidate him into obeying her. He doesn't back down.

"We will treat his wounds with that in mind, please stay out of the way while we work. Paya, come here, we will first need to remove the arrow. Dorian, I believe they were ambushed by members of the Yiga Clan, please fetch the antidote to their poison so it may be administered once the arrow has been removed."

"Of course, Master." Dorian makes haste out the door, leaving a fuming Dark, nervous Paya, and steadfast Impa with Link.

If he wasn't more concerned with saving Link's life Dark would have throttled the old woman that was currently working to break the arrow shaft so it could be removed from her shoulder. He had put emphasis on Link's gender when he spoke to them and the old woman had dismissed it.

Dark's gaze shifts back up from the floor he was glaring at a moment before when a pained whimper emits from Link and Dark can see a pale Paya pulling the arrowhead from behind Link's shoulder. He winces, they must have had to push it through. This was about the time that Dorian returns with a small covered jar.

"Paya, help me to remove his shirt now."

Dark grits his teeth, Dorian sets the jar down while nervously looking between Impa and Dark, Paya flushes, and Impa remains impassive and calm. Dorian is the first to break as Paya begins to push Link's tunic up after undoing her belts and straps. He turns away, facing Dark more now and keeping his gaze lowered from the brooding shade. Eventually Impa and Paya get Link's shirt off and Dark hears a small gasp from Paya. From then on there is the sound of the jar being picked up and the rustling of cloth as bandages are tied around the wound. Eventually Dark hears the two that had been working stand, signifying they had managed to complete their task.

Dark looks up and sees a blanket had been pulled over link, up to her shoulders. Paya was looking sheepish, with a small hint of anger that seemed to be directed at Impa. Meanwhile Impa was making her way over to a stack of cushions against the back wall and managed to take a seat upon them.

"He should be fine in the morning,"

Dark cuts Impa off from saying more, growling at her as he speaks. "She."

"The hero is a young man. He always has been and will always be a young man each time Hyrule has need of him."

Dark stalks forward, his rage causing the shadows around him to writhe, startling Paya and Dorian.

"You people treat your hero as nothing more than a tool to protect yourselves with. You don't care a thing for her, or any of your past heroes so long as they do as they are told and save your sorry asses from the dark forces that wish to destroy you." Dark takes another step forward, and from the way Paya's hands cover her mouth he assumes his eyes must be glowing embers at this point.

"And who are you to accuse us of such. From the darkness surrounding you, not one to be trusted."

Dark let's out a growl, he lips curling back to expose his lengthened canines. "Who I am, is someone that has seen Hyrule abuse its heroes in the past. I've born witness to your people asking a child to fight your war. I will not stand by and let you abuse Link more than you already have this time around. If she is going to be recovered enough in the morning we will be leaving. Until then I will stay by her side and make sure you do not cause her more upset than she has already experienced." Dark watches Impa, knowing that she was the one he had just challenged. Both Paya and Dorian had flinched during his accusing tirade, looking well and truly chastised and defeated. He felt no pity for either of them.

Impa stares back at him before shuffling off her stack of cushions and making for the stairs. "It is late. Paya, please grab a spare bed mat and blanket for Link's companion."

Paya yelps, but does as she is asked while the old woman goes up the stairs. As the shuffling upstairs settles Paya is laying out a mat beside Link's while Dorian is standing around looking unsure of what he should do.

"I, I must apologize. I hadn't known. My grandmother, I grew up on stories about the Champion of Hyrule and Grandmother always told me he, she was a great warrior."

"It's not your fault that she told you something that wasn't true. From what I've gathered most people weren't aware of the truth."

"Yes, well. Grandmother was one of the two that were tasked with placing Link in the Shrine of Resurrection and healing her wounds. I'm sorry I shouldn't speak ill of my elders, it's just," Paya pauses, unsure if she should continue.

"What you're trying to say is the old woman doesn't have an excuse for acting the way she does other than she's a stubborn old woman."

Paya nods in agreement. "I'll be upstairs if you need anything. And I'm still sorry for not having taken the time to get to know Link better." Paya turns to head up the stairs, then pauses, one foot on the first step. "Does, does Princess Zelda know?"

"I think so, I don't honestly know who knows and who doesn't. I get the impression she's trying to get things straightened out."

"Oh, alright then."

Dark watches Paya go up the stairs, only barely noticing that at some point she must have picked up Link's tunic as he saw it in her hands right as she turns the corner at the top of the stairs.

"Uh, I feel I should apologize as well. The entire village has always been told how the Champion was," Dark turns to Dorian, who seems to be nervously shifting his weight back and forth. "I'll let the others know, so at least the confusion in the rest of the village will be lessened." Dorian seems to smile just a small amount, to which Dark raises an eyebrow. "My daughters will be thrilled though. Learning the entirety of Hyrule was saved by a young woman will certainly make them her biggest fans."

Dark huffs a small laugh at Dorian's statement, glad that the people here were not so bad as to stubbornly refuse to see Link as a woman, even if their leader was.

After that Dorian doesn't linger and is heading out the door and closing it behind him. Dark then takes the time to look over at Link, her breathing is even and her color seems to be improving. Hopefully she'll be ready to move on in the morning. Making his way over to the second bed mat that Paya had set up he settles down on it, sitting there and watching Link. She deserved better than this. She had already given up so much, yet they kept demanding more.


	16. Chapter 16

When morning came Dark was still sitting beside Link on the bed mat when Paya makes her way down. She startles at first not expecting him to be awake so early. She manages to give him a small smile though and he nods at her.

"I cleaned and repaired her tunic last night." Her voice is kept soft so as not to disturb Link, who was still sleeping.

"Thank you." Dark holds his hand out to take it from her and she hands it over easily.

"You never did tell us your name."

"It's Dark."

A soft groan from Link has both of the others looking down at her as she makes to sit up. Dark is quickly at her side, pushing her back down and pulling the blanket back up before it can fully fall from where it was covering her.

"Hey, you're still injured. On top of that you don't have a shirt on so I don't think you want to flash me. I'd appreciate it," Dark is interrupted by Link pinching the back of his hand and glaring at him. "Hey, I didn't do anything. It was that old lady and, uh," Dark looks to Paya, not having gotten her name last night.

"Paya." She kneels down beside Link. "How are you feeling Link?"

Link winces as she goes to make a so-so gesture with her right hand.

"I'll run to the general store and get you something for the pain then." Paya leaves quickly with not much room for Link to object even as Dark makes to stand.

He drops Link's tunic on her head, seeing that while he was getting up she had stubbornly made her way to a sitting position, blanket clutched tightly to her chest.

"I'm going to step out and find us something to eat and check the horses." Link blinks at him, but smiles anyway, understanding he was giving her privacy to dress.

Once outside Dark takes a look around the village from the front porch of Impa's house. He could see that someone had obviously tended to the horses as they were no longer tied together and their saddles had been removed and placed on a fence at the bottom of the stairs. It also looked as though Dorian was back at the bottom of the stairs, keeping watch most likely. Dark descends the stairs. At the bottom, he looks either way and is about to ask Dorian where the general store is when he sees Paya walking back with a basket.

"Oh, Dark. Did you need something?"

"I was going to get breakfast for Link." He shuffles his feet to alleviate the feeling of being unsure.

"Oh, well when I went to get the pain medication for Link I also grabbed her something to eat, you as well. The shopkeeper said the medicine should be taken with food."

"Oh, thanks." Dark was feeling rather stupid at the moment. With nothing to be angry about and having had a chance to get out some of it last night, he wasn't feeling the simmering rage that had been making him grumpy since he was freed. It was odd for him to not have that anger, but he was sure it was only a matter of time before someone said something to piss him off once again.

He follows Paya back up to her house after she makes a gesture with the basket. Dark hesitates at the door though, not sure if Link would be dressed already or not. Paya must have realized why he had stopped though.

"I'll make sure she's dressed then let you in."

"Thanks."

Shortly after Paya is opening the door to let him in and the three eat what Paya had brought from the general store. Link noticed when Dark kept glancing up at the stairs, waiting for Impa to make an appearance and sent him a curious look for the action.

"He's worried about Grandmother. You were asleep when the two were arguing last night. I'm sorry, I wish I had known what she had done. She had to have known and she didn't tell anyone."

Link, confused at first eventually realizes what Paya is referring to and stops eating. Dark watches her, for a moment, not sure what he can do.

With a heavy sigh and a hand rubbing violently at the back of his head, Dark stands up. "We should get going before it gets too late." Link nods and moves to get up. Paya is quick to help her while Dark gathers their things.

AS they make their way down the stairs to their horses, Dark keeps a close eye on Link for any sign she's not ready to go on. Fortunately, she seems to be fine other than pain in her shoulder.

Dorian and the other guard had begun saddling the horses when they saw Link and Dark coming down the stairs with Paya. There was a bag next to Dorian though that had Dark arching a brow in surprise at.

"Are you planning to come with us?"

Dorian turns to Dark and shakes his head. "No, I just put a few things together for the two of you in case you run into any more ambushes. There is a jar of antidote, bandages and other medical supplies. There are also a few healing tonics to help speed up the healing process."

Dark takes the bag from Dorian to look through it, finding that in addition to what he'd been told about there were several packaged meals. Looking up at Dorian shows him nervously scratching at his cheek.

"My daughter, Koko, insisted on including some of her home cooked food for the two of you."

"Thank you, and please thank your daughter as well."

Dorian nods and goes back to saddling the horse.

It doesn't take much longer before both Link and Dark are mounted and making their way out of the village. Link is leading the way, as they are going out through a different gate than they came through. Dark keeps a careful eye on Link as they wind through the tight canyon. Link pauses when they reach the end of it and Dark sees a wide sloping field of grass leading away from them. The road here seems to be nonexistent, but Link shortly is pushing them forward across it.


	17. Chapter 17

They had been traveling most of the day. The open plain they had come out onto after leaving Kakariko Village, Dark had taken the time to ask for it's name at some point, had eventually ended with a road that lead around a large shallow pond. That road had wound along side that pond for the last several hours before eventually Dark could make out a stable in the distance.

Dark was glad to finally see some hospitality. Despite the slow pace they had made from the village, Link had been slumping in the saddle and Dark could see that sweat had slicked her forehead, matting her hair to her face.

So this was how Dark came to dismount as soon as they reached the stable. Link gives him a confused look as he walks over, his horse following him, and grabs Epona's reins.

"Off."

Link looks at him, incredulous. Dark somewhat understood her thoughts, it wasn't even that late in the day, maybe mid afternoon.

"Your shoulder is bothering you and we aren't in any kind of rush. Let's just stop and rest here then leave first thing in the morning."

"But,"

Dark cuts off her protest with a look. "We need to change your bandages anyway, we may as well just rest here."

Link looks up the road they were traveling then back to Dark. He can tell she doesn't like the idea of wasting time, but he wasn't going to let her continue on like this.

He watches her for a long moment as her indecision wars on her face, eventually though he gets fed up with it and walks back to stand beside her. Wrapping an arm around her waist he feels her stiffen momentarily before squirming as he pulls her out of the saddle and nearly throws her over his shoulder. SHe wriggles and squirms, hitting him with her fists, though she stops with her right hand after the first strike.

Dark ignores Link's struggles and takes up Epona's reins with his own horse's and walks over to the counter to board them. Link stops struggling as Dark talks to the man in charge of the stables. He can feel her pouting.

With the horses taken care of, Dark heads inside the stable and over to a table off to one side. He had grabbed the bags from the horses before they were stabled and now sets the bags on the table. With his hand free he slowly brings Link off his shoulder and onto one of the chairs by the table. She was scowling at him in a manner that made him smirk back at her.

"Don't pout, this is for your own good. Just because you're too stubborn to take care of yourself, doesn't mean I'm going to let you." Dark is rummaging in the bags on the table by the time he finishes talking. He pulls out bandages and a bottle of healing tonic. When he turns back to her, she is still scowling at him, one arm crossed over her chest in defiance. Dark raises an eyebrow at her.

"We need to change your bandages."

Link raises her eyebrow at him as well, motioning with her left hand to the space around them. Dark follows her gesture and sees a few other people staring at them.

"Ok, so maybe we can't change them here."

Link stands up and goes over to the counter and talks to the clerk there. He points her toward a couple of beds with curtains in the corner. SHe pays the man then walks over to the beds, waving Dark over as well. He grabs the bags and makes his way over. He arrives and sees her trying to pull the curtains closed around the beds. There were curtains between and around each bed and seeing Link struggling with just one arm, he takes over to give them privacy so he can change her bandages.

"Uh," Dark pauses now that they are closed off from the rest of the stable and looks to Link. She had sat on one of the beds and was reaching to her various belts and straps in order to remove her tunic. She pauses after the last buckle is undone and looks up at him.

"I can't change them myself."

"I know, it's just." Dark looks uncomfortable ash Link lets out a sigh and tries to lift her tunic off. Unfortunately with her injured shoulder she is struggling to lift it off. Dark steps towards her and helps to lift the shirt off. He tries to keep his gaze off her, but once they get her tunic off she tugs on his shirt to get his attention. He looks down and sees that the bandages go around her chest and up over her injured shoulder. There was a dark red spot showing through them.

"Uh, I guess I need to," Dark watches Link nod. "I'll just."

Link smirks slightly. "You're so nervous, considering how you usually act."

Dark scratches at his cheek then moves forward and begins untying the bandages on Link's shoulder. Up close like this he could see the muscles that broaden her shoulders and how her chest is just barely there, slight bumps under the bandages. It was easy to see how her clothes could hide these features. Despite his hesitance earlier, Dark is focused while he unwinds the bandages, revealing the shoulder wound and exposing Link's breast. The bandage had been compressing them and Dark tries not to take note of them as he finishes removing the white clothe.

He quickly turns to their bags and grabs a another clothe and then looks around. "I'll be right back, I need water to clean this with."

He quickly goes through the curtain, making sure it is closed behind him before heading over to the counter. "Um, hi. I need to get some water."

The clerk looks at him, "The kitchen is around back, they have hot water. Your friend said he was injured, I had the kitchen put some on when he rented the beds."

Dark clenches his teeth, it wouldn't help anything to go off about Link's gender to this person. Instead he just heads back to the kitchen and is handed a steaming pitcher, bowl and towel. The cook also hands him a jar, which he stares at in confusion.

"It's a wound ointment. It prevents infection and helps numb the area around it. Put it on under the bandages after you clean the area."

"Thanks."

Dark heads back inside and over to the beds Link had rented them. Once back behind the curtain he sets the bowl and pitcher on a table between the beds. He puts the towel in the bowl and then pours some of the hot water over it. Once it is wet, he lifts it out and reaches over to wipe gently at Link's shoulder.

The wound was an angry red. It bleeds sluggishly, but seems to mostly be scabbed over. Dark is careful not to tear it back open. Once he finishes with the front he rinses out the towel and moves to work on her back. With the same care he soon finishes and then reaches over for the ointment the cook had given him. He scoops some out and begins to gently rub it into and around the wounds. With that done he grabs the clean bandages and begins wrapping them around her shoulder and chest. He tries to make it looser on her chest and tight on the shoulder. He didn't like people mistaking Link for something she wasn't and she deserved to be seen for the wonderful person she was.

Once Dark finished he helps her get her tunic back on. "I'll get us some food."

Link nods and lays down on the bed. Dark watches her before heading back to the kitchen, not only to get food, but to return the items they had lent him. The cook takes them and gives him two plates of steaming food before pushing him out of the kitchen.

Food in hand Dark makes his way over to the curtained beds. Pushing the curtain aside he see that Link has fallen asleep. Grinning he sets the plates on the table between the beds and nudges Link's side.

"Hey, you should eat something and take that tonic Dorain gave us before you fall asleep on me."

Link sleepily rubs her eyes and blinks up at Dark.

"Food, come on." He helps her sit up then hands her the plate of food before grabbing his own. He sits on the other bed and rummages in the bags for the tonic he had out earlier. With it in hand he holds it out to Link. She takes it and rests her plate on her lap before uncorking the bottle and downing the tonic in one go. She makes a face, clearly it was not something to be enjoyed. Dark starts eating his food while she sets the bottle aside and digs into her own food.

With their food finished, Dark sets their plates on the table then helps Link pull the blankets out from under herself.

"Rest. We'll leave in the morning." Link nods, sleepily and snuggles into the bed. Dark takes the plates to the kitchen and by the time he returns to the beds Link is already asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

As dark had stated they were on their way shortly after waking in the morning. With the sun just beginning to lighten the sky they make their way north from the stable. That morning Dark had checked Link's shoulder before they left though and was happy to see the wound was beginning to heal.

It was mid afternoon when they reached the edge of Zora's Domain and Link dismounted from her horse. DArk was confused by this since not only did it appear the road had more or less come to an end, but instead of finding a route to go on by horseback, Link was taking the saddlebags from Epona.

Dark was confused.

"We have to go the rest of the way on foot."

Dark stares at Link, trying to comprehend what she is telling him. "Excuse me?"

Link has come over to him and tugs on his pant leg to get him to dismount, Dark does so and watches her grab the saddlebags from Dusk before she shoves them into his hands.

"Are we just going to leave them here?" He motions to the horses, not sure of what to do about them.

"They'll make their way back to the nearest stable."

"But what about when we need to leave, do we just have to walk."

Link nods and gives each horse a pat before making her way to what looks like it might have been an ancient landslide that cut off the road. Dark watches her scale it with ease then turn back to him and gesture for him to follow.

"This is insane." He grumps as he follows after Link.

Dark is cursing when they finally make it to Zora's Domain. It was late, the sun having set at least an hour before they arrived. Link, steadfast as she was didn't seem bothered by the long hike up to where the Zora had made their home. In fact, while Dark was slumped over and exhausted she was still to even be winded.

"How are you not exhausted, you're still injured?"

Link doesn't answer him as they pass the guards. Link waves to them and they seem to give her a small smile as she passes. Dark just follows along as best he can.

"Link! I had heard someone spotted you on the road up."

Dark blinks in confusion at the very tall Zora that was approaching them. He was taller than the guards and was adorned in much more finery than them as well. What also stood out was his coloring. Dark didn't remember ever seeing red Zora before.

Link had shaken the tall red Zora's hand and turned to Dark.

"Ah, and who is your companion. Gruve mentioned you had a houseguest when he delivered my message."

"This is Dark. Dark this is Prince Sidon." Link introduces them and Dark doesn't know what to think. This guy was the Zora prince? Sidon gives Dark a warm smile, all full of teeth and Dark was sure that he would not want to be on the receiving end of this guy's anger, ever.

"Hello, I am very pleased to meet you. I had rooms set up for the two of you when we heard you were spotted on your way here. Gruve mentioned you might be bringing a guest with you so we took the liberties of preparing two rooms."

"Thank you." Link doesn't seem phased by the prince's overwhelmingly cheerful attitude, but it was causing Dark to be thrown completely off balance. The last Zora royal he remembers had practically thrown herself at his counterpart before the other sages had reigned her in. Sidon was just so happy to see them there that Dark didn't know how to react.

"This way then." Sidon turns and begins leading them further into the city. It was massive and Dark did find himself distracted from the prince's behavior by the sloping architecture and grandiose archways making up every structure. Link caught him looking around with wide eyes at everything and gives him a nudge and a look to make sure he was ok.

"It's nothing, just this place has, well it's different than I was expecting."

Sidon had looked over his shoulder when Dark had spoken and was now smiling at him. "This must be your first time here then? I hope your stay is a good one. If you don't mind my asking, where do you hail from?"

Dark opens his mouth to respond, but finds himself suddenly wondering if should be honest or not. Mentally giving himself a slap for starting to take after Link in indecisiveness, he decides it's better to just go with it.

"The water temple in Lake Hylia. Link broke me out and now she's stuck with me."

Sidon frowns in concern at the answer and looks to Link, who just nods.

"He's the shadow of one of the Legendary Heroes of the past. He was sealed in the temple ages ago."

Dark grins at the growing look of almost horror on the prince's face.

"Yep, and Zelda, loving bearer of Wisdom that she is thought it best for Linky-poo here to keep an eye on me cause she doesn't trust me."

Sidon narrows his eyes at me and I can tell he isn't sure what to think of me himself, so I just continue on.

"Honestly the last time I was in your domain it was more or less just a big cave with a big pond in the middle, and it was frozen solid. So take from that what you will. I think the Hero I was following had managed to thaw everything, but it's been a while."

While they had been talking they had wound their way up a curving set of stairs and into what must have been the palace. Sidon had lead them to a hallway that was open arches on one side and arched doorways on the other.

"Here are your rooms. I had them set up so you both would be comfortable." Sidon is still eyeing Dark as if he isn't sure if he can be trusted, but seems to be doing his best to not show it as he points to two neighboring doors.

"Thank you." Link, ever the polite one walks over to one of the two doors and opens it.

"Ah yes, Link. Before I forget. I asked your friend Rhondson in Tarrey Town to make you something to wear for the festival. It should be laying on the bed. I hope you like it."

Dark watches as Link pauses before nodding with a slight smile. She seemed apprehensive to Dark, though that was subtle and it was likely not something she meant for anyone to take note of.

As the door closes behind her Dark makes towards his own room, but stops when he realizes that Sidon is still standing there.

"I hope that you do not mean her any harm. If you were to,"

"Relax Prince, I'm not going to do anything to her. Though I can't say that anyone that mistakes her for a guy in my presence won't have something to worry about."

Sidon frowns at that, but doesn't seem to disagree, interesting.

"I have informed everyone of the error we all have made in our assumptions. That should hopefully not be as much of an issue here. Is she still not speaking up?"

Dark rubs the back of his head and looks to the ceiling. "Not going to lie, it gets to her and I don't think she knows how to correct people, having gone so long just letting them believe of her what they want. Some people I know have to know, the Princess for one. But the people in her village don't. Not to mention that old crone in Kakariko. Even having to take her shirt off to treat her injuries she stubbornly refused to accept the truth."

"Injuries?" Dark notices Sidon grow concerned.

"Yeah, shit. She'll need help with that." Dark looks at Link's door, not sure if he should offer to help or find a proper healer. "We were ambushed on our way here, she took a poisoned arrow to the shoulder."

"I will send for a healer to check on her."

"Thanks."


	19. Chapter 19

After closing the door behind her Link thought she heard Dark and Sidon talking, but she didn't care much for what they were saying. When Sidon had told her he had had something made for her to wear during the festival she was not exactly thrilled with the idea. It was too similar to when Impa had given her the Champion's Tunic. Even still she makes her way over to the large bed that took up a good section of the room. It was big enough, she noted to hold her, Sidon, and Dark all at once and still have room left over.

Draped on the end of the bed was blue cloth that was the same color as her tunic and seemed to have similar details on it. Though as she moves closer and picks it up she realizes it's longer. It reaches her knees almost when held at shoulder height. There was a split seam up each side similar to the Champion's Tunic she was wearing, only longer. Moving her eyes up from the length and she sees two belts held in place by subtle belt loops. The first would go around her hips and waist, how she was familiar with them being worn. The second belt was higher up and looked like it would either go straight across or just below her breasts. The trim was still all done in white and the sleeves were short like the one she wore now. In fact it over all looked like a dress version of the Champion's Tunic.

Link smiles, this was not as bad as she had feared it would be. It seemed that Sidon and Rhondson had cared enough to make her something that would make it harder for people to mistake her for a man while she was wearing it. It was still somewhat practical though. It was designed to wear with pants and allow for a full range of movement if she had to fight while wearing it. The belts would also help in holding her weapons if she wanted to carry them. It was a nice and thoughtful gesture and Link would need to thank both of them for this.

She carefully folds the dress and looks around to find a place to put it and the saddlebags she was still carrying. Seeing a dresser, she goes over and sets the bags on the floor beside it and the dress on top. Stifling the urge to yawn she heads over to the bed and sits down. Even if she hadn't shown many signs of exhaustion on the walk up to Zora's Domain, she was still worn out. Her shoulder was aching, though she could tell it was healing well even without looking at it. She begins to take off her boots, followed quickly by her belts and kicks them over to where she had laid her bags down. Just as she is about to decide if she wants to take her tunic and pants off or leave them on there is a knock at the door.

"Hello? Excuse me, the prince said you had been injured and sent me to tend to you."

Surprised, Link gets up and pads softly over to the door, opening it to reveal a blue Zora carrying a healer's kit and other supplies. She was only slightly taller than Link and gave a kind smile to her as she spoke. "I hope I'm not intruding, but I was told you had been injured."

Link nods and steps aside to invite the woman in then closes the door behind her.

"The prince wasn't sure where you had been injured, so please excuse me asking."

Link, nods once more and motions to her shoulder.

"Your shoulder then? We'll need to take your tunic off so I can get a better look."

The healer motions to the bed for Link to sit on it and then helps her in removing the tunic. Her shoulder felt stiff and moving it in this way pulled on the wound and Link hoped it wouldn't reopen. Once that was taken care of Link heard the Zora hum at the bandages.

"Whoever did these didn't really know what they were doing. They're a bit loose, but it looks at least like the blood has stopped, so there is that."

Link holds back a chuckle since she was aware that Dark had been the one to do the bandages. She supposed he wouldn't know how to do them properly would he.

"Well regardless, I would have to undo them to see how your shoulder is looking."

The healer continues to unwrap the bandages and expose the wounds. At first she just pokes and prodded the front, wiping around the wound with an herbal tonic that stung when it made contact with the healing area.

"This tonic helps to clean the area and prevent infection. I know it may sting a bit, but it's better to get it into the wound rather than risk losing your arm to infection later."

Link nods, understanding. Eventually the healer has her turn around so she can better access her back and take in the damage there.

"This one seems to be doing much better. Was this where they pushed the arrow out?"

Link was a bit surprised she knew it was an arrow, but nods slowly anyway.

The healer lets out a soft laugh. "Arrow wounds are one of those that stands out. If it had been a sword it would have left a larger hole or a long slash. Arrows are smaller and impact less skin. Also given the placement of the two wounds I'm surprised you didn't have this cauterized."

Link shrugs with her good shoulder, trying to keep the other still for the healer. She honestly didn't know why that hadn't been done, though she supposed Impa had her reasons.

"Well it's too late now to do something like that. It is also too late to sew it closed. You've been taking healing tonics?"

Another nod and the healer hums in response before Link hears a few of the things in the healer's kit clinking around as if she was searching for something.

"I'm going to give you something a little different than what you may be used to. It's something I developed after long years of research for the optimal healing. It helps to prevent infection and to regenerate the injured flesh. It unfortunately doesn't reduce pain, for some reason every pain relief I added made the healing properties weaken." A bottle is brought over Link's shoulder and put in front of her. She reaches up and takes it studying the pale red color of the liquid inside.

"Take some now, before you go to sleep. I'm going to leave the bandages off to let the wound breath and I will be back in the morning to help redress your shoulder."

Link nods and uncorks the bottle to swallow a mouthful of the tonic. It was bitter and hard to swallow, but she managed. The healer was soon packed up and making her way to the door.

"Please let me know if you need anything before I return in the morning. The guards at the end of the hall should be able to fetch me if you find you need me."

With one last nod of her head Link moves to lay down in the massive bed, pulling the blankets up around her just letting herself enjoy the softness of the massive thing.


	20. Chapter 20

Link awoke the next morning to a knocking on her door. She was slow to rise though and it wasn't long before the healer from last night had simply pushed open the door to come in.

"Are you awake?" The healer was speaking softly as she looks at the bed for confirmation.

Link was slowly pushing herself into a sitting position, sleepy eyes blinking lazily and her hair sticking up in a rather humorous manner. The healer quickly steps in, closing the door behind her and walking over to the bed.

"Here, let me help you." She takes Link's shoulders and helps her to turn slightly so the healer can better see the wound. She has he healer's kit next to her on the bedside table and begins to clean around the wound. Link, being as slow to wake as she is right now, winces at the sting of the medicine on her wounds. The healer soothes her though and is soon wrapping clean bandages around Link's shoulder, doing so without the need to cross her chest.

"There we go. Do you need help getting dressed?"

Link gives a slow nod, still struggling to fully wake up.

"I know you must still be tired, you've had a long journey. Here," She picks up the tonic from the bedside table and hands it to Link. "Take a swallow of this, it will help with your healing."

Link takes the bottle and, uncorking it, takes a quick mouthful. The medicinal, bitter taste from the night before isn't any better the second time around. The healer has gone over to her things and finds the neatly folded dress that Sidon had made for her. Picking it up she comes back over to Link and helps her off the bed before helping to pull the dress on. Since Link had slept in her trousers, there wasn't any need for her to put those on and the healer was soon making her way out of the room.

Now dressed Link rubs her eyes, still tired, but waking more now that she is up and moving. Her shoulder feels much better than it had before. Looking down at herself she notices that the tunic style dress actually fits rather snuggly on her torso, though it is looser, almost puffy, around her chest. She gives a couple of small turns to either side, swishing the ends around her knees. There was an almost Geruda-esque feel to the style.

Happy with her appearance Link straightens out her bed head and puts on her boots. She considers grabbing a weapon, unsure if it will be needed or not. After so long spent carrying them, it feels wrong now to consciously leave them behind anywhere. It was safe here though. She shouldn't have to fight. She wavers in indecision.

A knock at her door distracts her.

"Link, you decent?"

Its Dark and Link tries to relax from the tension of deciding on a weapon to take, or not take, with her. Instead of coming to a conclusion she walks over to the door and opens it.

"All ready?" Dark is standing in the hall outside her door, when he got a look at her though his normal expression seems to change. His lips turn up at the corners and his shifts his weight so one hand is resting on his hip.

"Well look at you. Are you actually wearing a dress?"

Link nods, opening the door further and making to turn back around to finish deciding on a weapon or not. Dark takes the silent invitation into the room.

He must notice her looking at her sword and shield with uncertainty, because he walks up beside her.

"Hey, look. I know what it's like to come out of a period where all you know is fighting. But we aren't here to fight, we're here to have fun, right?" He waits for her to turn and acknowledge what he had just told her. "So, leave these here for now. That Sidon guy won't stop you from coming back for them or anything like that if they become necessary."

Link looks between the sword and Dark for several long moments before nodding. Dark gives a small smile and takes her hand, pulling her out of the room.

"Alright, so I need a tour, 'cause this place is completely different than the last time I was here."

They were on the outer ring that went around the main part of the structure that makes up the city. Link was pointing out different sights and doing her best to explain them. Her faltering attempts were causing Dark to hold in laughter. Dark thought it was nice all the same, to hear her talk so much.

Eventually the tour lead to a long staircase that had Dark staring straight up its height. Link waved him onward when she realized he stopped to take it all in, a small quirk to her lips as she leads him up the stairs. It took a while for them to reach the top, once they did however, Dark was just as in awe of the place as from the bottom of the stairs.

"What is this place?"

"It is the East Reservoir Lake. It was built to prevent flooding when the rains in this region get extremely heavy."

Dark was caught off guard to see Sidon making his way over to them from a dock that juts out over the water.

"You needn't scowl so often; your face may get stuck that way." The smugness of the prince's statement had the scowl Dark had developed at his first words deepening.

Link looks between the two, not fully understanding why Dark was upset. She nods to Sidon though.

"Have the two of you been having a good morning. I'm sorry I've been busy with preparations for the festival."

"Link's been giving me a tour. The place is pretty impressive."

"I'm glad you enjoy it."

By this point, Sidon had joined Link and Dark. It made Link uncomfortable though. For some reason, she could feel tension building between the two as they stood closer and Link suddenly felt small. Sidon towered over her, but Dark was only a few fingers taller than she was. Even so the way he was standing, his face marred by a scowl, had her trying to insert herself between them. She didn't understand why they were suddenly like this. They weren't this bad the night before. Had they said something to each other after she went into her room.

Dark picked up on Link's unease first, it was practically rolling off her and the feeling was making his frown deepen as he stares up at the tall prince. He and Link had been having such a good time before he showed up. Then there was the dress. Link looked great in it, it worked for her. It irked him that this fish-man had been the one to get it for her.

Sidon was struggling to maintain his jovial attitude around this Dark figure. Last night the healer had reported to him about Link's injuries and she had told him that the bandages were in good shape, even if the person that had secured them didn't know what they were doing. Sidon had not liked the idea of the shade having dressed such a delicate wound on the hero, it sent spikes of something he wasn't used to dealing with into his gut and twisted there. Then this morning, while he was preparing for the festival, he had seen them. She looked happy and relaxed, she was even laughing. She was looking at Him. It had taken everything in him not to march over and interrupt their stroll around the city.

"The festival, what is it for?"

Sidon shifts his gaze from Dark to Link, his eyes smiling to match his grin. "Of course, I suppose Gruve didn't tell you then? This festival is a celebration of my sister and all those lost when the Calamity struck. Up until this year it's been a rather solemn affair, but with the Calamity Ganon defeated it promises to be a much more festive event."

"So, it's a memorial festival. That's kinda weird, but I suppose it makes some kind of sense."

Link pokes Dark in the side in reprimand before sending a smile at Sidon. She thought it was a wonderful thing for the Zora to do to remember those lost to the Calamity.

Link sighs when she sees Dark glaring at Sidon again, even as the prince seems to have gained a slight smugness to his smile. She wished she understood what was going on between them.


	21. Chapter 21

Link had eventually grown frustrated with the two men and thrown her hands in the air as she left. Even as she walked away she could feel them glaring at one another and that was something that just had her more confused. Sidon didn't glare, at anyone. He was always smiling and happy just to be around a person. She wondered if it was just Dark that managed to draw out these kinds of emotions in people.

Back down in the city she wonders around to look at what had been set up so far for the festival. Blue pennants had been hung from light posts with the insignia that she just remembered Mipha wearing all those years ago.

Thinking of Mipha had her growing slightly depressed. She remembered a fleeting conversation with her and a few other instances, but not much else. What stood out more to her was the conversation between Sidon and Muzu. She had been dragged into it at the time when Sidon had pointed out how well the Zora Armor had fit her and Sidon had confessed that Mipha had actually loved her. At the time, Link had been too shocked to say anything. Now though, she just felt guilty. What had she been thinking all those years ago, why couldn't she have just told someone the truth?

It's not like it mattered now anyway. Mipha had passed on when she had finally defeated the Calamity Ganon, just like all the others.

While she had been thinking Link had also been walking, and not paying much mind to where she was going. This was how she hadn't realized she had cross the Great Zora Bridge that lead into the city. At least she didn't until her feet hit on something much softer than the stone of the city paths.

Stopping just off the bridge she looks up and around, realizing where she is and heaving a sigh. She turns back to the bridge in order to make her way back to her rooms to continue her thinking when she feels a sharp pain in her neck. Reaching up she feels the fuzzed feathers of a dart and pulls the projectile from her neck even as she begins to feel dizzy. As her balance begins to waver she looks up across the bridge to see the two guards at the far end making their way to her. She take a step in their direction, but is stopped from going further by an arm around her waist.

Her eyes are locked on the guards, now running toward her as her vision begins to blacken. She pushes at the arm around her as it pulls her back. She thinks she hears giddy laughter, but everything just fades into a dark abyss.

Sidon and Dark had eventually made their way down from the reservoir and back into the city. Shortly after doing so one of the guards runs up, interrupting their glaring at one another.

"Prince Sidon! There has been an incident."

Sidon turns from Dark and tries to give the guard a reassuring smile. "I'm sure it can't be that bad. What's happened?"

The guard shuffles his feet, knowing what he was about to tell the Prince was, in fact, that bad. "There was an incident on the Great Zora Bridge. The Champion had crossed to the other side when she was attacked. The guards attempted to aid her but were not able to make it in time. By the time they had crossed the attackers had fled, taking the Champion with them."

The smile Sidon had placed for his people had dropped off his face and he looked horrified. Dark wasn't any better as his fist clench at his sides, trying to figure out who he could take his anger out on.

"Who would attack Link?"

"We are not certain, my Prince. They had a symbol that resembled that of the Sheikah clan on their clothing, but it was different. There were three of them, two had bows and fired on the guards as the third grabbed her. She had seemed to be in distress and wasn't fighting them. The guards think she may have been drugged."

Dark curses loudly, startling both Sidon and the guard. Sidon keeps himself from staring at the shade while addressing the guard.

"Begin a search party, they could not have gotten very far. Send out messengers to have roads blocked, there are not many routes into the domain and they will be on foot, limiting them further."

"Of course." The guard runs off to relay the message and begin the search.

Dark meanwhile is still cursing, even though it is more angry mutterings by this point. Sidon turns to him and finds him concentrating on something.

"Do you know who may have attacked Link like this?"

Dark stops his muttering and rubs the back of his head in frustration. "Yeah, it sounds like the guys that ambushed us on our way here. Those two wanted to kill her though, so why kidnap her this time?"

"I do not know, but I am concerned. We should find her as quickly as we can."

Dark nods as Sidon turns toward where the guard had headed.

"Hey, I may be able to help find her faster. Should at least be able to point a direction." He jogs to follow after Sidon.

"And how are you able to do that?"

"We're connected." Dark scowls at the disbelieving look coming from the prince. "You may not like it, but what she told you the other day is true. I'm the shadow of one of the former Heroes and as such I have a connection to them. It's a reincarnation thing or something. I don't know."

Sidon still seems skeptical of Dark's claim, but is clearly willing to let the shade point them in a direction if it means finding Link sooner. "So, you are able to sense where she might be?"

"Yeah, it's not perfect, but like I said I should be able to point us in a direction."

"Then that is better than nothing." Sidon motions for Dark to follow him, waiting for him to tell him what he needs to try and find Link.

Dark had already begun though. His concentration was sending out his consciousness, in a way, to locate Link. She didn't seem to be moving, which didn't seem right. Had the Zora managed to blockade the route these kidnappers had planned to escape through? They seemed to be to the South of the city.

"We'll be going South. I can hone in better the closer we are to her."

"Are you certain we will be able to catch up to them?"

"They aren't moving." Dark furrows his brow, that still didn't seem right. "They may be trying to wait out your searches until they can leave more easily."

"This still does not tell us why they took her though."

Dark nods, he's well aware and its very concerning that he can feel Link. If they had killed her he would have known, but she was still alive, if not conscious.

Link wakes to the sound of rushing water and voices.

"Why do you suppose he's dressed so oddly, he looks more like a girl in what he's wearing."

"Perhaps he's one of those types that prefers girlish clothing."

"I find it shameful, what's the point of dressing in a girl's clothes if everyone is still able to recognize you. It's not a very good disguise."

"So, you think he was hiding from us after that failed attack?"

"Of course, what other reason would he have for such a disguise."

"It's not like it matters now, we have him and our Lord Kohga will be pleased."

Link listens carefully to the three men talking. Even though her head is still fuzzy she knows that they aren't expecting her to shake off whatever drug they used on her before. She manages to stay still and keeps her eyes closed. Even so she can feel rope around her wrists and her ankles. That rushing water also has her concerned. It may be able to help her escape, but if she is bound at the feet she will be less likely to be able to swim, making any rushing water ore of a liability than a help.

"I was surprised after the failed attack that Lord Kohga wanted him brought to the hideout alive."

"I know, but apparently he found a reference on how to bring Lord Ganon back after his defeat."

"So, he needs the hero to do that. I suppose that makes some sense. I hope we get to watch. Lord Ganon will certainly kill this little hero if whatever ceremony is used doesn't do it for him."

Link tries not to let panic take hold in her as she listens to more of her attackers' conversation. If they had some way of bringing that monster back from the beyond that was bad. She had to escape before they could get to the Gerudo desert.

What did she know? They couldn't have gotten far from Zora's Domain if she was hearing rushing water so near. They were mostly likely either in the Lanayru wetland region or near Kakariko, those were the only places that had water with any kind of speed between the Domain and the desert. Realizing she had no choice but to open her eyes to better assess her position and perhaps get an idea of where they were.

Carefully she peeks open one ye then the other. The three Yiga clan members that must be her kidnappers were sitting around what might have been a fire at one point, but was now just a pile of half burned wood and ashes. None of them were looking at her. Beyond them she could see the back side of a waterfall surrounded by the edges of a cave. That explained the rushing water. They must have been pursued by the Zora guards that had been trying to reach her before the drug had knocked her out. Meaning she may still be in the Domain, just hidden.

"How much longer do you think it will be before the Zora finish searching?"

"Hours most likely. They'll stop when the sun goes down and we can sneak past them then."

"We'll prick the hero again before we leave then, can't have him waking up on us."

There are murmurs of agreement and Link gets confirmation that she shook off whatever drug it was hours before they expected her to. That at least was something in her favor. Carefully she moves her hands. Bound behind her as they are she isn't sure what range of movement she might be able to get out of them, but is surprised to feel the Sheikah Slate nearly right under them. It must have shifted from her hip to behind her either as she was grabbed or while they carried her to this cave behind a waterfall. Either way she was grateful. This gave her tools she could use.


	22. Chapter 22

While Link was trying to figure out the best strategy for how the Sheikah Slate could help her get free, she felt an odd nudge in her mind. The Yiga clan still were not paying her any mind, so she nudged back at the nudge she had gotten. It was right before she received a mental 'where are you?' from Dark that she remembered their connection. With some concentration, she sends an image of the waterfall and the three Yiga clan that are with her. A feeling of relief comes from dark and he sends the impression that he is on his way.

That is all well and good, but she would never live it down if he had to save her, again. At least she feels that way. She's the hero, not the damsel in distress and damn it all her pride said she could get out of this before Dark and whatever Zora he was leading to her rescue could make it this far.

That being said she knows she has magnesis, stasis, cryonis, and bombs. Bombs were her best bet, but she wasn't sure she was far enough from the Yiga clan members to not get caught in the blast. It wouldn't be the first time on blew up in her face, but still, it wasn't fun. The alternative was to just wait for Dark to rescue her though and that was something she didn't think she could live with. So, she'd just blow them all up.

Dark and Sidon were moving quickly through the forest around the Zora's Domain with a small force of Zora soldiers. Dark had explained to Sidon that Link was conscious now and had sent him an image of where she was being held. It helped out greatly. There were after all only so many waterfalls in the direct that Dark had initially sense Link after her kidnapping. It was just a matter of checking them for hidden caves.

They were now on one of the last ones they needed to check when they hear a sudden 'BOOM' and see the waterfall explode outward, flinging three Yiga clan members out from what must have been the cave Link was being held in. At first the small group just stands there in shock but Sidon is quick to order the soldiers with them to go into the river and fetch out the currently unconscious kidnappers before they could drown, assuming that explosion didn't just outright kill them.

Dark was already taking off toward the waterfall and the barely noticeable path behind it that he hoped would take him to Link. Rounding the corner into the cave reveals that the explosion had happened near the cave entrance as the rock had been damaged there by whatever had blown up. Looking further in Dark sees Link facing toward the back of the cave. At first, he feels his heart seize when it doesn't look like she is moving. That quickly calms down when he realizes she is struggling against ropes on her hands and feet.

"You're an idiot." He jogs over to her as she twists her head around to see him. He lets a smirk cross his face when he makes it to her and helps to untie the ropes. "How did you manage to blow those guys up anyway?" He looks around thinking there must be some kind of explosive nearby that she had utilized.

"Sheikah Slate."

Dark pauses after freeing her hands at the single phrase. "A what?"

Link has sat up at this point and begun untying her legs, not giving Dark any kind of answer to his question.

"Link? Are you alright?" Link turns from finishing with the rope around her legs to see Sidon, Dark is still trying to figure out how she caused the explosion.

At Link's nod that she was fine Sidon lets out a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad. I was worried when we saw the explosion."

Link stands up and dusts herself off, both Sidon and Dark noticing the frown on her face.

"Hey, everything's alright, isn't it? You're not hurt or anything, are you?"

Link shakes her head in answer to Dark's question.

"Didn't beat you." She walks away after saying that and heads out of the cave, leaving the two men wondering about what she meant by that cryptic statement.

Dark and Sidon look at each other, sharing a look of confusion before following Link out to find that the soldiers had secured the kidnappers. Link was standing by them with a device in her hands, poking it and studying it from what they could see. As soon as they both make it over to the group Link is off and heading back toward the Domain, not even waiting for directions or any lead from those that actually knew where they were.

"How does she know that's the right way to go?"

"I do not know. I am beginning to wonder if the explosion didn't cause some kind of internal damage that we cannot see."

Link glances back at them and the soldiers take a noticeable step away from the prince and shade when it is clear she is glaring at them.

Sidon looks ashamed for his comment and properly chastised. Dark just crosses his arms and walks faster to catch up to Link.

He looks over her shoulder and sees that the device she is holding has a map that seems to be enchanted to show her location to her.

"That's handy. Where did you get this map?"

Link looks up at him then touches a few of the icons on the map, changing the screen to an image of a bomb. Tapping it has a glowing blue bomb appearing in her hand. Dark backs away as she turns to him with a grin. Just as it had appeared the bomb vanishes and Link is back to poking the device in her hands until the map returns to its surface.

Dark is clutching his chest and scowling as he realizes she had just made a fool of him.


	23. Chapter 23

By the time the group had made it back to the Domain Link had gained a determined look on her face that had Dark and Sidon wondering what had happened while she was held by the Yiga Clan. Instead of stopping with Sidon and his soldiers to drop off the prisoners though, Link makes straight for her room, Dark close on her heels.

"Hold up. What's wrong?"

Link begins undoing the buckles and belts holding her dress in place before reaching for the ends and pulling up. Dark stares for a moment at the speed with which she is moving but quickly turns and closes the door when he realizes she isn't stopping just because he is in there.

It doesn't take Link long before she is back in her Champion's tunic and equipping her weapons and shield. Dark had turned around when he heard the weapons clinking against each other.

"Link!" Dark walks over to her as she is adjusting a few of the belts that secure her shield in lace. His hands go to her shoulders in order to get her attention. "What is going on? Something those creeps said has you acting like you're going into a major fight and I can't help you if you don't tell me what is going on."

At first Link looks back at him startled, not sure if he meant to stop her. When he mentioned helping her she relaxes slightly.

"They wanted to bring back Ganon."

"They what?" Dark almost yelled. He watches Link stride out the door instead of answering him. Dark follows her out, of course, as she makes her way back out to the bridge leading into the Domain.

"Hey, hold on now. You can't just say something like that and not explain it before running off." Dark was aggravated by Link's refusal to explain anything. "Link!" Dark, fed up with the silent treatment reaches out and grabs Link's arm, spinning her around to face him. "Explain."

Link looks to the side, avoiding Dark's angered face in favor of trying to tug her arm free of his grip. Instead of letting her go her tightens it. If she wanted to run off head first into danger she'd have to actually make an effort to break his grip.

With a sigh of resignation Link looks back up at Dark, "They wanted me alive for some ritual to bring back Ganon."

"So, you're just going to run straight for them and do what? Give them what they want?"

Link shakes her head. "No, I was going to stop them."

"You just said they need you for this ritual. Wouldn't it be pretty stupid to deliver yourself to them by rushing off like this?"

Link glares at him and he just glares right back, they both knew he was right.

"Link?" The two turn to see Sidon standing nearby, a look of concern crossing his face.

"Help me talk some sense into her, she's trying to run off to fight those creeps that kidnapped her."

Dark feels somewhat satisfied at the horrified look that crosses Sidon's face at sharing Link's plan.

"Link I must insist you not. We have them in custody. There is no reason for you to,"

"They'll keep coming." Sidon is cut off by Link, his eyes widening at her behavior.

"And you're safer in the city than wandering the wilderness. They need you to come to them Link, so I'm not sorry that I'm stopping you from running off into an avoidable danger."

"I don't need protecting!"

Both Dark and Sidon take a step back at Link's raised voice, even Link seemed startled that she had yelled at them.

"I never said you did. I just don't want you running off with half a plan and getting yourself captured or killed." Dark was able to recover the quickest, arms crossing over his chest. "You're a strong fighter and perfectly capable of fending for yourself. That doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. You have friends and allies now. Let us help you."

Link looked surprised and lost at Dark's words. She wasn't used to having people help her with things. Even when fighting the Calamity, she had been alone. To have Dark so earnestly telling her he would be there, fighting beside her. It struck something deep inside her.

She slowly nods her head, accepting Dark's help.

"Alright, then I guess we need to figure out where these Yiga Clan guys are coming from so we can ambush them."

Link tugs at her sleeve for a moment, "I know where."

Both men look at her, waiting for her to elaborate. She tugs on her sleeve again.

"Gerudo Canyon. I went there before to get back a relic for the Gerudo before taming Nabooris."

Sidon look slightly crestfallen; a desert was no place for a Zora. "Then I wish you luck. If you need any supplies, just let me know."

Dark nods, he knew why the prince wasn't offering to come. Deserts weren't his favorite either, but at least he wouldn't dry out and be useless in one.


	24. Chapter 24

Even though Dark and Sidon had managed to delay Link's leaving, she and Dark were on their way out of the Domain the next morning. Sidon had managed to make sure they were well supplied and armed. Link had informed Dark that it would be mid-day before they reached the nearest stable, where she informed him they could retrieve Epona and Dusk. Dark was simply glad the trek angled downhill this time.

The reached the stables at the foot of Death Mountain in time for lunch. Taking advantage of the fact they were there, Link managed to cook up a simple meal for the two of them.

"Who taught you to cook?"

Link looks up at him and motions to a poster on the wall with a simple recipe made from local ingredients. "Most of the stables and Inns have recipes out for travellers."

Dark looks a bit surprised but nods his head in understanding.

After they ate Link went and had the horses prepared. It wasn't long after that the two were on the road once more.

Hyrule Castle loomed ahead of them. Link had insisted on checking on the princess before they went on to the desert. Dark didn't object simply because the castle was on their way and it wouldn't take them any longer to stop there than it would at a stable. Castletown was nestled into the shadow of the broken monument to Hyrule's ruling family. As they draw nearer Dark can see that the town has come quite a bit further in the week or so since they were last there.

Had it really been so little time since he was freed from the Water Temple?

Link was keeping her eyes open as she had through the entire journey. She did not appreciate being ambushed and it had happened twice now. She was concerned for Zelda, seeing as there were few guards. Anxious to check on the princess' health herself, Link spurs her horse into a canter.

Link hears Dark curse behind her as he pushes Dusk into a canter to catch up to her. She wasn't overly concerned with him at this point. The princess had told her to keep an eye on him out of the distrust both had of the shade when he appeared. Link, at the time, had not known what to think of him. Having spent what felt like so much longer than a week and a half with him though, she knew he was trustworthy. Even if he did still grate on her nerves from time to time.

Riding into the town Link looks around to orient herself before making her way toward the house Zelda had been using since she had begun the reconstruction of the town.

She dismounts outside the structure, Dark following suit and she motions for Dark to stay outside while she checks for Zelda.

"Link?"

Link turns at the sound of her name and sees Zelda standing there, eyes Dark with the same suspicion she'd had last they saw each other. Giving a nod at the princess Link approaches her.

"I wasn't expecting you so soon." Zelda turns fully to Link. "Is something wrong?"

Even though Link knows she must be talking about Dark she nods her head anyway. "Yiga Clan."

"The Yiga Clan?" Zelda looks more confused, but still sends a quick glance to Dark, who is leaning nonchalantly on a building across the street.

"They're up to something. Wanted to make sure you were safe."

"We haven't seen them, or any signs of them."

Link's brow furrows in thought, this didn't seem right. Then again if they were only after the hero it would make sense.

"Link, has something happened?"

Link doesn't answer leading to Dark pushing off the building he was leaning on to walk over.

"She's been attacked twice by them. The first time they almost killed her and the second time they almost managed to make off with her in a kidnapping attempt."

Link scowls at Dark, who just rolls his shoulders, not upset in the least that Link may not have wanted the princess to know all of that.

Zelda looks horrified though. "Are you alright? Why did they try and kidnap you?"

Link looks to the ground, her voice low. "They mentioned wanting to revive Ganon."

Zelda pales at the admission. "They can't. Why would they want to do something like that? How?"

Link shakes her head.

Zelda sighs deeply to collect her thoughts. "Then you will stay here. If they were trying to kidnap you in order to bring Ganon back, then we can not allow them to have you. You will stay here with me until we find out what they are planning."

Link's jaw goes slack at the princess' suggestion, or was that meant to be an order?

"You know that Sidon guy and I already tried to talk her out of confronting them, we didn't by the way. She thinks it's better to try and get the drop on them then to let them make any further moves."

Zelda whips her gaze over to the shade, "That's all well and good, but Link is the last Knight of Hyrule. I can not let her just run off to something so dangerous without any back up. Back up we are not able to give at this time." Zelda turns back to Link. "AS soon as we have a few more buildings constructed I would like you to take volunteers to begin training as soldiers. Once they have been trained you may take them with you to eliminate the Yiga Clan."

Link continued to stand there, flabberghast, at the princess' words. Dark beside them was holding back laughter at the stubborn set of Zelda's posture.

Hearing the chuckle from Dark had Link narrowing her eyes. "That could take months, if not years. The sooner we deal with the Yiga the better."

"I can't allow you to go without some form of backup."

"Hey, I'm going with her!"

Zelda sends the shade a dark look. "And why should we even trust you?"

Dark glares back at her.

"Zelda, he saved my life. I trust him."

Zelda whips in shock to face Link. "You trust him? After how he was acting when you first brought him here, you trust him?"

Link nods.

Zelda still doesn't seem convinced. "Even so, I can't let you go. 1 man is not back up. I'm sorry, but I still need you to train soldiers."

Link sighs, she didn't want to argue, but it would take too long to train soldiers. "A compromise then?"

Zelda seems caught off guard. Dark is grinning though.

"We have to go to the Gerudo Desert. I could talk to the Gerudo chieftess and ask for her aid in eliminating the Yiga"

Zelda blinks, clearly trying to come up with a reason for this not to work and failing.

"Fine. I will write you a letter to explain it to the Chieftess and ask for her aid in stopping these Yiga. However, once you are finished I wish for you to begin training new soldiers. I will send out messengers requesting that any who wish to train as soldiers report to Castletown." Zelda gives a nod to signify the end of her request.

Link nods in return, more slowly than the the princess though.

"Alright then, please do take care, and keep this thing at a safe distance. You may trust him, but I do not."

"Dark."

Zelda blinks in confusion. "Beg pardon?"

"His name, it's Dark. He didn't have one so I gave him one."

"You named him? So he is like a pet then?"

"I am not a pet!"


	25. Chapter 25

"It's so hot!"

Link rolls her eyes at Dark's complaining, they hadn't even reached the desert yet and he thought it was too hot. Trying to ignore the shade Link covers her eyes and peers ahead. She could just make out the top of the stables. Hopefully she could get Dark to change into something that would keep him from complaining about the heat. Looking over her shoulder she tries to judge his size.

"What!" Dark looks at her irritably when she looks back at him.

"Are you able to shift your clothes into something to help with the heat?"

"What, why? Isn't it already hot enough?"

Link shakes her head. "We haven't even reached the desert yet."

Dark slumps in his saddle, he should have sided more with the princess this was torture.

"It's not going to matter what I wear, my clothes can't protect me from the heat."

"You can borrow some of mine." Link turns forward as they round a bend in the canyon and the stables come fully into view.

When they reach the stables Link rents them two beds and stables the horses. It was late afternoon and even with enchanted clothing the trip through the desert would be dangerous at this time of day. They'd leave first thing in the morning.

Dark walks up behind Link as she is setting their things down on the two beds she had rented.

"How's your shoulder doing?" Over the last two days they had been traveling Dark had asked after her shoulder and made sure she drank the tonic given to her by the Zora healer. He hadn't needed to change the bandages though as the wound had closed complete by the time they reached Castletown.

Link rolls her shoulder stiffly and nods to Dark. "Good."

Dark nods back and watches as she digs through one of their bags. She eventually pulls out a set of armor consisting of red pants, golden greaves, a gold tasset with belts hanging around it, a green and gold spaulder, matching green bracers, and a gold headband. She hands them to him.

"What is this supposed to be?"

"Desert armor, it will help with the heat tomorrow."

"What are you going to wear then? I'll live, you need this more." He tries to hand the armor back to Link, but she doesn't take it.

"I have something else I can wear."

Dark looks down at the armor with a frown, then back up at Link.

"Fine, I'll wear it."

Link gives him a small smile before going off to get them some dinner. Dark sits heavily on the bed and wonders to himself why Link would have two sets of armor for the desert.

In the morning Dark was the first to emerge from his curtained bed after getting dressed. He felt ridiculous. The spaulder only just barely covered his chest and he wondered how Link could have worn something like this to begin with, unless she just wore that blue tunic underneath, that would make sense.

Looking over at the other curtained bed Dark is getting curious. It shouldn't take this long for Link to change. "Hey, you ok in there?"

Some rustling on the other side before Link pushes back the curtain and steps out. Dark's jaw hits the floor as Link strides toward the inn's exit. She was wearing purple pants that matched his, but the rest of the outfit, Dark swallows to get the dry feeling out of his mouth. He'd been without for far too long if he was looking at Link like this. How did she have clothes like that if everyone had thought she was a man?

"Dark?"

Link is looking over her shoulder, a bare shoulder covered only by the blue fabric of a veil placed over her head. He notices that their is a side piece hanging unevenly and realises it's a part of the veil that must go over Link's face.

"I'm coming."

Dark walks over to Link. As Link begins toward the end of the Canyon the stable is in Dark stops and looks between her and the stable master.

"Don't we need the horses?"

Link shakes her head. "They'd sink in the sand."

"So we're on foot, great."

Dark let's silence reign over them as they make their way out into the desert. At first Dark feels the oppressive heat, but it is dulled by whatever enchantments the armor has. It wasn't ideal, but at least he wasn't uncomfortable.

"I have to ask. That outfit,"

"Only women are allowed in the Gerudo's city."

Dark blinks at that. "Wait, so they know then, right?"

Link shakes her head.

"How could they not know if you had to be a woman to get in? How do they check that even?"

"Clothes, they let me in like this but their chieftess still knew me as the champion."

"Hold up, I'm lost. So their leader thinks you're still a man, but the guards and citizens, the ones that don't know you're the champion, think you're a woman?"

Link nods, not really sure what Dark was getting at.

Dark just grumbles at himself after that and stomps ahead of Link.

They reach the Kara Kara Bazaar by midday. Link goes to buy them both lunch from the merchants that have set up shop around the oasis while Dark lays in the shade of a palm tree.

"Everyone here has to be some kind of idiot."

Dark feels a nudge in his side and angles his head to see Link frowning down at him holding a woven bag with two melons in it.

"Don't look at me like that, they are. These people can at least blame the heat for frying their brains, but most of the idiots in Hyrule thought you were a man for the longest time and even now you're still not speaking up when people make the assumption."

"You should stay here while I go to the city." Link sits beside him, handing him one of the melons and taking out her own.

Dark watches as she digs her thumbs into the rind and then pulls the melon apart before doing the same. The inside is moist and sweet, but most importantly, to Dark, cool. It's messy, juice dripping down his arms and chin, but Link seems to be having just as much trouble as he is having. Though Dark finds himself watching the dribbles as they follow the line of her throat, pausing in his own meal to stare. Link stops and catches him staring and gives him a strange look.

"Aren't you hungry?"

Dark blinks as Link draws his attention away from her neck to her face, an expression of concern causing her to frown.

"Yeah, I'm just going to go over here." Dark stands up and moves a few paces away to the shade of another tree before sitting back down, back to Link.

Link stares after him, even more confused and concerned for him. She glances down at her melon then back at Link before seeming to realize something. Standing she heads over to the single permanent structure around the oasis and buys a few meat skewers from the shop there. She takes them over to Dark and holds them over his head, but in his line of sight. He had eaten more of the melon while she was gone, but the meat skewers catch his attention.

"Huh?" Dark looks up and sees her leaning over him, skewers in hand. She motions with them for him to take them. Slowly he reaches up and takes one, leaving the other for Link. "What's this for?"

"You didn't like the melon."

Dark gives her a confused look then looks between the melon and the skewer in his hand.

"It was fine, that's not," Dark runs his empty hand through his hair with a sigh of frustration. "Do you have any idea how obscene you looked while you ate your melon?"

Dark was glaring again, but he really didn't care. Link was just giving him a contemplative look as she eats the other meat skewer, then shakes her head.

"You, you can't be serious. Just, I don't even know what to say to you." Dark chomps down on the meat skewer in his own hand and looks away.

It isn't long before Link is finished and dusting off her pants while standing. Dark hears a jingle and then a small pouch is hanging in front of his face, much like the meat skewers earlier.

He looks up at her wondering what she is doing now.

"That building has a food stall and an inn. You'll need money to pay for things while I'm in the city."

Dark narrows his eyes at Link. "How long are you planning to be gone?"

Link shrugs her shoulders. "A day or two at most."

"I'm not leaving you alone that long!"

Link frowns at him.

"No, you still have those Yiga Clan people after you. You aren't going anywhere without me. How far away is this city?"

"Half a day still."

"See, you aren't travelling that far on your own, it's too dangerous."

Link gives him a flat stare, she was not getting into this with him.

"You can't enter the city, I'll be fine."

"By the Three! I am not letting you go off on your own, the last time you did that you got kidnapped by cultists that think they can bring back Ganon! You are not going alone!"

Dark was shouting now, and probably drawing unwanted attention but he didn't care. Link couldn't go off alone, she didn't need to. She had help, and she needed to let him help her.

Still frowning at Dark Link pulls back the small pouch of rupees and puts it in her larger pouch on her hip. She then turns and walks over to one of the merchants selling fruit and other food items. Dark stands with a grumble and follows after her.

"We aren't done with this conversation."

He goes to grab her forearm and she turns and shoves a woven bag into his hand instead. Inside are several melons, bananas, and other fruits he doesn't recognize.

"You can't enter the city. You'll stay in the shelter by the main gate. This will have to tide you over until I finish speaking to Riju."

Dark can sense that Link isn't happy, but she at least seems to have listened to his argument on why she can't go alone. Dark gives a nod of understanding and Link turns to begin making her way out of the oasis.


	26. Chapter 26

The sun was just settling on the horizon when the pair of travelers made it to the gate of Gerudo City. Link points to a lean to set up beside the gate where a couple of other men are sitting, lounging in the only shade either could see.

Crossing his arms, Dark looks at Link with a smug grin. "I'll just take my chances going in with you."

Link rolls her eyes. "I will be safe in the city, they won't let you in anyway." Link turns from him and makes her way to the gate, fixing the veil on her face that she had left free until then.

Dark scowls after her before jogging to catch up right as she is passing by the guards.

"Halt! Men are not allowed inside these walls."

"What! But I'm with her!" Dark gestures to Link, who now has one hand on her hip and is pointing to the lean to beside the gate.

Dark glares at her, doing his best to ignore the spear the guard is holding to his chest. "Fine, but don't expect me to save you if those creeps come after you again!" He steps away from the guard and watches Link disappear into the city.

"Your companion will be safe inside these walls, you needn't worry about her." Dark turns to the guard that had stopped him from following Link. With a scoff he heads over to the lean to shelter and plops onto one of the rugs that had been set up beneath it. His glower prevents either of the other men sitting there from approaching him.

Inside the city walls Link is taking her time to look around. Even though she was confident that the Yiga would not be able to ambush her as easily here, she still remains tense as she crosses the square in front of the palace. They had after all gotten in before to steal that relic.

Seeing how late it was she pauses at the foot of the steps leading up to the throne room. It was possible that RIju would have retired for the evening already and Link didn't wish to intrude. Maybe she and Dark should have waited until tomorrow to head out, they could have stayed at the oasis inn. Too late to change their actions she turns and heads for the inn. She would check with Dark in the morning, to let him know she was safe before heading in to talk to Riju.

With the morning the sun began to beat back the coolness brought on by the dark night. Link awakes and makes her way back toward the gate. She had promised herself she would talk to Dark before making her way to the palace to let him know she was safe after all. The worrier most likely hadn't slept last night due to his worrying.

Spying a food stall she goes over and spies a few pastries for sale. Thinking that Dark might like something other than fruit for breakfast she buys them before going out through the gate.

When she steps out into the desert she see Dark leaning back against the wall under the lean to, seemingly dozing in the rising heat of the morning. She steps over and sits beside him, causing him to turn to face her.

"Done already?"

Link shakes her head and holds up one of the pastries for him. He takes it.

"Thanks." Taking a bite he looks out across the desert toward the oasis. "If you're not done, why are you out here?"

"I thought you might like something other than fruit for breakfast. Also I knew you'd be worried."

Dark doesn't deny his worry for her and continues to eat the pastry. Link nibbles on her own, enjoying the cinnamon flavor swirled through the flaky dough.

"Do you really think these people will help you with the Yiga?"

Link hesitates before nodding. "I'm hoping they will at least. Zelda penned that letter to ask for their help."

"You have more faith in them than I do then."

Link finishes the last of her pastry and brushes the crumbs from her hands before standing.

"I'm about to find out anyway. I should be back before lunch."

Link turns to go back through the gate as Dark watches her. He almost reaches out to stop her, still concerned that the Yiga Clan could get to her if he isn't around, but he knows they may need the help if they are going to their hide out.

Link is making her way up the stairs to the palace. She hopes she isn't too early, but figures she can at least put in a request to see Riju. Link spots a frowning Buliara at the top of the stairs. What could she have done to upset this woman before she's even had a chance to speak.

"I am surprised to see you returned here Champion."

Link stops at the top of the stairs and nods to her.

"I thought I had told the guard to be more careful in checking people after you came through last time."

Link's shoulders slump and she is about to say something when they are interrupted.

"Buliara, let him through. He is our champion after all. The least we can do is hear him out."

Still frowning, Buliara steps aside and motions for Link to enter into the throne room where Riju sits upon a stone throne raised by a dias.

"Greeting Champion Link. While I am happy you have come for a visit I also know you wouldn't have come this far on your own if there was not something you needed."

Link pulls out the letter that Zelda had written, holding it out for Riju.

Buliara is the one that takes it from her, making note of the royal crest of Hyrule on the front before handing it to Riju. "So the Champion is nothing more than an errand boy now?"

"I'm not a man." Link says it with a resigned sigh, prompting both in the room to stop and stare at her for a long moment. It makes her uncomfortable and she rubs the back of her head. Dark was rubbing off on her, she was speaking more often without thinking of the consequences. It was bound to get her into trouble.

Riju had gone back to reading the letter from Zelda, hoping it may hold some clue as to why the champion had said something so definitive yet contradictory.

"I see. So you are in fact and always have been a woman? Why the deception?"

Link hangs her head and shakes it. "I don't know. I was just so busy trying to stop Ganon, and then there is my memory loss. People just assumed and I never could bring myself to correct them."

"I see. So a deception not by your own hand, interesting." Riju taps the letter to her chin in thought. "I understand your problem with the Yiga Clan. They have been causing us problems as well. If what Princess Zelda says is true, then it is in all of our best interests to stop them now, before they are able to complete their goals." Riju turns to her attendant. "Buliara, see to it that a group of our best soldiers are assembled. Also, see to it that Link has proper armor for this endeavor. Her current clothing is fine for day to day, but is hardly protective enough for a battle."

Buliara nods to Riju and strides off to do as asked. Link watches her go, knowing she has yet to be dismissed.

"Champion?" Link turns back to Riju when she addresses her. "I must admit, when I first saw you and knew you to be the Champion I was told about in my youth, I felt something was not quite right. I had been told you were a man, but the person I saw, and still see now, was more woman than any man. I assumed it must be some trick you had managed to gain access to myself. I wonder though, who from your past might wish to conceal the truth?"

Link didn't know how she should answer that. On the one hand Dark had told her how even when she had been tending to her wounds Impa had referred to her as a man. She had even argued with Dark about the subject with no resolution having been found. Then of course there was Robbie. Link had bared herself as much as she dared to the old Sheikah researcher in order to prove who she was to him. He had to have known if he had treated her before she went into the Shrine of Resurrection.

Link gives a shudder at the thought. How many people in her past knew about her and why did they seem so adamant to keep that truth from not only the public but herself.

"I, I don't know."

Riju gives her a soft smile. "We may never be able to find those answers for you , but we can begin to correct the problems they have caused. I will start to having our records corrected and letting my people know the truth. However, the men of the past, especially those in power, have always feared strong women. It is one of the reasons we Gerudo isolate ourselves from others."

Link takes Riju's words to heart, was it possible that the King had demanded she hide her identity so long ago, that didn't seem right. Perhaps Zelda could help her puzzle this out.


	27. Chapter 27

Once she was dismissed from Riju's presence Link went to fetch Dark. Riju had told her that she was to meet the soldiers that were traveling with them at the Northern gate.

Dark, she found dozing under the shade provided for those that could not entire the city but had ventured out in hopes of trying to. Smiling slightly she taps his shoulder to gain his attention. With a grunt Dark looks up at her, squinting against the bright light.

"All done?"

Link nods and stands straight. "We need to go to the North gate, the soldiers will meet us there."

Dark gives a nod and stands. Link wonders if he's been in the same spot since last night and if so if his legs might be stiff. Dark looks at her expectantly and she leaves those thoughts for the moment and leads Dark around the walls of the city.

"What's this? I've seen these by the stables and there's that one near your house."

Link glances over at the shrine, still glowing with a strange blue light. Dark was staring at it with a questioning look on his face.

"Sheikah Shrines."

Dark's eyebrows furrow at the answer. "What are they for?"

Link wasn't sure how to explain the shrines to Dark, she knew she needed to try though.

Dark must have seen the struggle on her face to put words to what she wants to say. "If you can't explain with words, just show me with your mind, remember?"

Link nods and thinks clearly about entering each shrine, activating it, going through the trials set for her. Dark has a look of concentration on his face as he receives these images and then looks to the shrine when they end.

"Huh? So they're meant to help you train and build up your strength then?"

Link gives a nod before grabbing Dark's hand to tug him along. She didn't want to keep the soldiers waiting. With a larger group it would take longer to cross the desert to reach the hideout, If they were lucky they could camp at the end of the canyon leading to it before advancing in the morning.

A few more minutes of walking and the two reach the gate where the soldiers are waiting for them. Link sees Buliara and drags Dark over to her.

Buliara sees them approaching and raises an eyebrow at Dark. "Who is this?"

Link looks to Dark, "His name is Dark. He's a friend and has offered his help in fighting the Yiga."

"Are you certain we can trust him?"

Link nods, "He has save my life once already. I trust him."

Buliara nods and pulls out a stack of clothes from a bag at her feet, handing them to Link. "This is the armor our Chief has asked me to give to you. It should suit better than what you are wearing." Link looks over the armor as Dark watches over her shoulder.

"You need to go inside to change or something?"

Link shakes her head at Dark and she sets the items on a crate near the entrance and begins putting the armor on over what she is wearing. Dark watches, eyes narrowing as he realizes something.

"You weren't wearing armor until now were you?

Dark holds back a growl when he sees Link avoiding answering him as she continues to put on the armor.

"You did not know?"

Dark whips around to face Buliara. "No! I thought it was weird to be armor but I thought it might have been enchanted or there was hidden metal I couldn't see." Dark doesn't like the almost laughing look in the Gerudo's eyes.

"I assume she gave you her armor then, as I saw her wearing your exact pieces herself the last time she was here."

Dark's eyes narrow, but he still turns back to Link, now fully armored in a similar fashion to the soldiers nearby. "Next time, you take the armor. I'll be fine without. You won't necessarily be."

Link's flat stare has his anger rolling in his gut.

"Don't look at me like that. Your life matters more than my health. How long do you think I was in that temple for before you got me. I'm not that easy to kill." Dark steps forward, poking Link in the forehead, "So next time you have to choose between giving me armor and wearing it yourself, don't you dare give it to me."

"The voe has a point Champion. If his claims of indestructibility are true, then you should certainly care for yourself first and his comfort second."

Link looks to Buliara, then down at her own feet. "I'm sorry Dark, next time I will be sure to take the armor."

"Good. Now how are we getting to their hideout?"

"Lady Riju has arranged for you to take sand seals out to the canyon where the Yiga make their home."

Dark gives a confused look. "Sand seals?"

Dark was clinging to Link as the sand seal pulls them over the hot sands of the desert. When he was told they were going to be taking sand seals out to the canyon where the Yiga Clan was hiding out, he hadn't understood what that meant, not until he saw the others getting out shields and tying leads to their belts, The soldiers had initially tried to show him how to control and lead one of the beasts himself. He wound up just making fool of himself though, which was why Link had offered to have him ride double with her so they could just so they could get moving.

Up ahead he saw the red sandstone cliffs of the Gerudo Highlands, a fissure in the rock was straight ahead of them. That must be the canyon.

The ground became rockier as they approach the schism and their ride bumpier and slower. Eventually they are forced to stop. Dark looks around the area they were in. The sun was now low on the horizon, casting long deep shadows against the blood red rock. Any other time he might have found the sight beautiful, but something was setting him on edge.

Link was scouting the area with a few of the soldiers before pointing up the cliff to a small outcropping of rock.

"We will camp up there and in the morning, we will move in on the Yiga." Buliara instructs the soldiers and Dark can see that Link is already halfway up the cliff to the outcropping.

"Will you need help in climbing Voe?"

Dark glares at Buliara, he does not like this woman. "I'll be fine." She sends him a smirk before following her soldiers to climb the cliff. Dark almost uses the shadows to transport himself, but realizes the armor Link had loaned him would not travel with him if her were to do that. Grumbling, he follows after the rest in climbing the cliff to where they would make camp for the evening.


	28. Chapter 28

They had set a watch. It didn't help them.

They came early in the morning, it was the middle of the last shift for the watch. They must have known they were there the entire time, just waited for the perfect opportunity. The soldiers on watch had been killed quickly, before they could sound an alarm. The rest of them tied up before they knew what was happening. Dark, not needing sleep, had tried to fight back, but one of them had gotten behind him and managed a solid blow to the back of his head before he could do more than stand.

When Dark comes too it's noon. The sun high in the sky and the shadows nearly nonexistent. He tries to move his arms to shield his eyes from the blazing brightness and finds his hands tied behind his back. Blinking away the glare as best he can, Dark takes in his surroundings. The Gerudo soldiers and himself seem to be tied to posts sunk deep into the sand in a semi-circle. All of them are facing a crumbling platform with cracked and broken mirror and a large black stone slab coming up from the middle of it. Two chains are sunk into the stone on either side and held up by those chains Dark sees Link.

Link pulls at the chains binding her to the black stone. In front of her, just beyond where her toes can stretch is the Master Sword, a taunt left by their captors. The stone against Link's back is like ice, despite everything that says it should not be.

Yiga Clan were scattered around the ruins they were in. Keeping watch over their prisoners and others scouring the area for pieces of the broken mirror. Link had seen them on occasion come over to the mirror in front of her and fir pieces back into the frame of it. It was still missing pieces, holes showing through the obsidian glass. Link wishes she had some clue as to what they were planning. She tugs at the chains again. The Yiga don't even look up at the rattle anymore, secure in the fact she couldn't escape this.

Dark has made a note that the Yiga seem to mostly be ignoring himself and the soldiers. It was irksome to him, but he wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth. The shadows may have been small, but they were still there. That meant that Shadow could manipulate them.

With careful concentration, he managed to go down the line of soldiers. Each was bound to their post with simple rope, easy enough to slice through with the limited shadows at his disposal. He was careful to watch the soldiers as their binds loosened, but they seemed to know that at this time it was best to act as if they were still bound.

Unfortunately, he was not capable of freeing Link, there weren't enough shadows near her and the chains would have been a different problem entirely given his distance. It was while he was trying to figure out how to get to Link or free her that some of the Yiga began to move in with what looked like they may have been the last shards of the mirror. One of them stepped forward and drew the attention of the rest as the final shards were placed in the frame.

"Welcome fellows and guests. Today we are in for a treat. The Hero has come to us as a sacrifice to return our Lord Ganon to power. So, it will be that by his blood and the Mirror of Twilight, we will bring our Lord back to this world to bring revenge upon those that cast us aside."

Link's eyes widen as, who she assumes must be, the Yiga Clan's new leader draws a large blade from his back and steps closer to her. She pulls at the chains, straining to reach the Master Sword. The Yiga leader stands before her, the sword held firmly in both hands and prepared for a thrust strike into her gut. The sun was just moving past high noon, casting her into the shadow of the stone slab she was chained to. The Yiga leader makes his move, thrusting the blade forward. Link braces for the pain of being impaled, closing her eyes on reflex.

Instead of the feeling of cold steel running her through there is a loud clang and a thunk that she can feel reverberate from the stone just beside her hip. Opening her eyes, she finds Dark in front of her, sword and shield held in a defensive position, deflecting the large blade of the Yiga.

There was a pause as the Yiga surrounding them tried to register the sudden appearance of someone that should have been tied to a post. Even the Gerudo soldiers seem to pause before springing into action, not having known how they were free, just that they had been.

Link was staring at Dark's back, he was back in his black tunic and floppy hat that she had found him wearing when they first met, as opposed to the Gerudo voe armor he had borrowed from her.

The pause that had hung in their air suddenly broke and Link made a second slash at the Yiga leader in front of him, driving the man back from Link. Using the space afforded to him by that he spins and strikes one of the chains holding Link in place. As the Yiga leader sees what he is doing and makes a lunge at Dark, the shade completes his spin motion and releases a spin attack on the enemy, flinging him back a few steps. Dark is quick to strike at the second chain, freeing Link entirely.

While Dark had been fighting off the leader and freeing Link, the soldiers and Buliara had managed to get the drop on the rest of the Yiga. They took their weapons and had them mostly dealt with, though a few had opted to simply flee from the area, not feeling they stood a chance.

With Dark standing by her side Link bends down and picks up the Master Sword, drawing the blade and holding it out in front of her.

"What! No! How did you get free?" The Yiga leader was looking between Dark and Link, though it was clear his last question was aimed more to Dark.

"Yeah, I'm not going to answer that." Dark slashes at the leader then spins to the side as Link follows in with a second slash, catching him on his unprotected right side. The leader screamed as he was flung back from the strike before righting himself and bringing is large blade to bare.

Before he could do anything else though a blade was at his throat and drew the attention of all three to Buliara and the rest of the Gerudo soldiers now standing around them having dealt with the rest of the Yiga.

"Drop your weapon and surrender."

The Yiga leader looks around him at the soldiers then back to Link and Dark.

"You may have won this time Hero," His sword clangs heavily to the ground. "But we will not rest until we have destroyed you and your precious Hyrule."

The soldiers were quick to bind their prisoner and take him over to where the other Yiga that had been knocked out were. They then proceeded to tie them all up.

"Hey, you ok Hero?"

Dark turns to Link, giving her a concerned look. She just nods to him.

Dark looks around and spots the mirror again. It was fairly complete. Cracks ran through the dark glass and there were a few gaps here and there, but overall it seemed to be intact.

"We need to obliterate that thing."

Link, following Dark's gaze, nods in agreement. "It's dangerous, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It was used at one point to seal Ganondorf, the mortal incarnation of Ganon."

Link looks up at Dark then back to the mirror. "Were you there?"

Dark nods, he remembered the Hero of Time being asked to attend the execution of Ganondorf. It hadn't gone as planned, but they had used the mirror to seal him away. Dark wasn't sure where he was sealed or how the mirror was shattered, but he had a feeling that it being intact would only cause problems.

"How? It was in so many pieces and they reassembled it."

"Shatter it again and haul the pieces to Death Mountain. At the very least the lava will melt everything into a slag."

Link shrugs at that, it wasn't a bad idea. "Just curious, what happened to the armor you were wearing before?"

Dark looks down then glances over to the post he had been tied to. There was a haphazard pile of clothing and armor there. This was also when Dark started to feel the heat. "I'm just going to go change back into that."

It was soon discovered that with their prisoners in tow and their sand seals most likely miles away, the soldiers, Buliara, Link and Dark would have to walk back to the city. The problem with that soon became that they didn't know where the city was.

Link was quick to check for her Shiekah Slate and had found it missing, along with most of her equipment.

"We will help you look, they most likely brought our things with us." Link nods in agreement with Buliara and the soldiers not needed to watch the prisoners or deal with taking apart the mirror are sent to search the ruins around them for their things.

They were eventually found in a sand sledge behind a crumbling wall.

With their equipment restored Link was quick to pull up a map on the Sheikah Slate and point them in the correct direction. Dark was fascinated by the object and was currently examining it while they all walked toward the city.

"This is the thing you used to make that bomb with back in Zora's Domain, isn't it?"

Link gives a small nod, before taking the slate back from Dark and tapping a few things on the screen. Suddenly, there appears a glowing blue bomb in her hand. Unlike last time though Dark does not freak out over it appearance, knowing by now that Link wouldn't blow him up.

"So, what else can this thing do?"

Link dismisses the bomb and then places a finger to her chin. "Well, it has the Magnesis, Stasis, and Cryonis features. They let me manipulate metal objects, stop time, and create a frozen pillar of ice."

Dark studies the item in her hand for a long moment. "That seems helpful."

"It has been." Link then moves it to attach to her hip, securing it in place. "After we get back to the city we'll need to head out for Goron city on Death Mountain."

Dark thinks for a moment on the route that they will have to take. "We going to stop by and check in with the princess on our way?"

Another nod from Link. "We probably should, if only to let her know the Yiga have been dealt with."

The rest of the trip was surprisingly quick, for having to cross a desert, and they arrived at the city as night was falling. Dark looks at the lean to beside the gate with apprehension then to the Yiga Clan that were being led into the city.

"How come they get to go in but I have to stay outside, again?"

With a sigh, Link turns to Dark. "The prison is inside. I'm sure they'd happy to put you in a cell, but I think you may not like that very much."

Dark scowls at the response.

"I shouldn't be long, we can cross the desert to the oasis and stay the night there. I just need to speak with Riju about what happened and let her know we're all safe."

"Can't the soldiers do that?" Dark glares, making a decent point.

Link shrugs. "Sure, but I think she'd be upset with me if I didn't at least see her myself."

"Fine, I'll wait here then." Dark grumbles and heads over to the lean to.


	29. Chapter 29

True to her word Link wasn't long talking to Riju and she met up with Link outside the gate within an hour of leaving him. She carried on her back a heavy leather bag filled with the mirror shards so that they could be disposed of safely. She also came out with a Gerudo who walks over to one of the lounging sand seals giving out a loud whistle.

"I figured it would be faster to take a sand seal out to the oasis."

"So, are we riding double again?"

Link gives a nod as she pulls out her shield and sets it on the ground. The Gerudo helps to secure Link to the sand seal and Dark steps up behind her, his arms tightening around her. As they take off across the sands.

Link doesn't flinch, it's very different than when Dark had ridden double with her from Lake Hylia. He studies her and wonders if she realizes how much she has relaxed around him. When he first met her she barely spoke, he'd had to rely more strongly on their connection to get any kind of response from her. Now, after what had maybe been just over two weeks, she was speaking up and even interrupting people. She still wasn't quick to speak, a trait that seemed to appear in most heroes, but she was standing up more for herself and thinking of her own needs.

He also liked holding onto her like this.

It takes them a little under an hour to reach the oasis and Link sends the sand seal back to the city before leading Dark to the single building in the area.

"You only have one room available?" Dark glares at the inn keeper while Link pays for their room. She didn't seem to be upset by the fact the two would have to share the room. Dark on the other hand had mixed feelings. There was of course the fact that he really wouldn't mind sharing a room with Link, then again as she didn't seem to either mind or care that they would be sharing a room it made him feel like scum for thinking about it like that.

With the room paid for Link makes her way back toward it and disappears into what Dark assumes must be the room they would be sharing. With a frustrated noise, he follows after her and slips into the room.

The room is simple and sparsely decorated. There are two beds and a large arched window with a curtain fluttering in the evening breeze. Other than the rug on the floor there is little else. Dark takes in the space and sees that Link had removed the armor over her Gerudo outfit and was already out cold on one of the two beds. He takes a seat on the other one and watches her until he grows bored. He didn't need sleep, but it had been a long couple of days in the sun for him and his mind was exhausted from keeping himself so tense while the Yiga were threat. He lets himself relax, half dozing as the night slips by.

Link greets the morning with a small groan before rolling herself out of the bed and stretching her arms over her head. The action wakes Dark and he stares at Link through half-lidded eyes with a grin.

"I'll go get us some breakfast, do you want fruit or something else?"

"Fruit's fine, just if you get hydromelon, grab a knife or something."

Link gives Dark a funny look as she leaves to fetch their food.

Once she returns with a variety of fruits and they have eaten their share they make their way back out into the desert. This time towards the canyon they took to get there and the stables where their horses are waiting.

When they arrive, Dark half expects Link to change into her usual tunic, but she doesn't. He doesn't ask about it either, it's not his business what she wants to wear. It's just a bit distracting for him. Only a bit.

Two days later and they were coming up on Castletown once again. Link had changed back into her Champion's tunic the morning after they left the desert and Dark felt a small amount of relief at that. As they walk the horses into the town though Dark is able to see that there are now more people and more occupied buildings. The reconstruction was going rather well it seemed.

Dismounting, Link turns to one of the new townsfolk. "Is Princess Zelda in her house?"

The person Link had asked gives her a shake of their head. "No, the town's been getting rebuilt so quickly with the help of Bolson and Co. that the Princess has taken time to begin going through the rubble of the castle. If you need to speak to her, that's where you'll find her."

Link gives a quick nod of thanks before taking Epona's reigns and walking her toward the castle. Dark dismounts and follows after her, leading Dusk.

Dark's first impression of the castle was that it was a wreck. Walls were crumbling, ceilings had collapsed and there were giant metal spider looking things that looked like they had seen better days. All and all it was rather depressing.

"Castletown didn't look much better before the reconstruction began. Zelda has been putting more effort into rebuilding people's homes than the castle."

"I suppose that's a good thing for the kingdom. So, the castle's next on her list?"

Link shrugs while ducking under a beam and through a hallway.

Dark follows and the two find a room off the hallway that may have been an office or study at one point but now looked as though something had made a nest of the place. Papers were strewn all over and the rotted desk was collapsing on itself. In the middle of the mess stood Zelda, her back to the door and a sheaf of papers in her hands.

"Zelda?"

Zelda turns around and stares at the two in surprise for a brief moment before smiling at Link.

"You're back! Did you stop the Yiga?"

"Yes." Link is nodding but motions to the room in question.

"Oh, this was my father's study. I've been trying to go through and organize things in hopes of learning more about the kingdom. There should be a list of knights and nobles.I was hoping to contact their descendants and recruit them to Castletown."

Nodding in understand Link looks around the room more closely. "Are you having any luck?"

Zelda lets out a sigh, her hands dropping to her thighs as she moves around the large rotting desk. "Not really. Though there seems to be much correspondence from your father stashed away in here. Mostly regarding your training." Zelda scrutinizes the pages in her hands and on the desk. "It's strange, almost as though they knew you were destined to be the Legendary Hero."

Link tenses up at the mention of her father, thinking back to Riju's comments about men fearing powerful women.

"Wait, you think they knew she was the hero before when exactly?"

Zelda looks to Dark then back at the pages. "Link's father died when she was ten. These letters seem to be dated far enough back to have been when she was just a child, perhaps even an infant." Zelda looks up at Link with watery eyes. "I'm sorry Link. I had no idea, I never realized what you must have gone through, and now it seems that somehow they knew. It doesn't make any sense."

Link staggers back, this was just too much. Her father had a hand in everyone thinking she was man. Why? And why would the King have correspondence with her father on the matter.

"Did, did your father know? Did he know I was a girl, not a boy?"

Zelda rests her hands on the desk and looks steadily at Link. "I'm not sure, but given the tone of these letters. I think that he may have."

"Why?" Link falls back into the wall by the door. She looks lost and doesn't seem to be completely there.

"I'm trying to find that out. I'm sorry Link. I don't have any answers for you. I will try my best though to see what I can find."

Dark is watching Link as she seems to crumble with this new information. He understood that this was hard. Learning that a past you can't remember was full of lies and half-truths. It really made it hard to find yourself when the few that knew you and had survived may only have known a false you.

"In the meantime we need to head to Death Mountain to destroy a mirror."

Zelda turns her attention back from Link to Dark. "Destroy a mirror?"

"Yeah, those Yiga Clan people were planning to use it to resurrect Ganon. We were on our way to throw it into the volcano so that wouldn't be an option in the future."

"I see." Zelda looks back to Link, who has taken the length of the conversation to right herself so she is not leaning on the wall any longer. "I wish you luck in your journey. Perhaps I will have found something, some better news, by the time you return."

Dark nods his head, then touches Link on the shoulder to gain her attention. Link blinks at him before letting him lead her out.

"Hey, listen to me ok? It's going to be alright. Zelda will find something."

"I know, I just hope I can handle it."


	30. Chapter 30

Sorry about missing yesterday's update. I will try and get an extra one out this weekend to make up for it. I hope everyone is still enjoying this, I'm enjoying writing it. Please let me know what you think with a review. On to the story then.

* * *

Dark insisted they spend the night in Castletown before heading out the next morning to make their way to Death Mountain. Link wasn't in a state to argue given the startling information Zelda had given her. As such Dark made sure they had a room in a newly opened inn in Castletown.

"I feel like such a creep right now." Dark was watching over Link as she slept. He was also thinking about what they had learned. At first Dark hadn't thought anything foul of those in the past that had made everyone believe a lie that made their 'hero' a boy. Impa's explanation that the hero must always be a man was not something he was unfamiliar with. The fact that he had never met a female Link before, or even heard of one, it had him thinking there may be something to it. The problem was that when Dark had been able to see link in battle. The way she moved, there was no doubt that her gender did nothing to hinder her.

So, why did the king wish to hide that she was a woman. Tradition? That might be it, but Dark wasn't believing it as he would have before. What he knew of Hyrule from one hundred years ago, what he had gotten from Link anyway, was that the races of Hyrule had aligned themselves, each contributing a champion. Two of them were women. The Zora princess and a Gerudo warrior. If misogyny was so bad that the Hero must be a Hylian man then those two would not have been accepted.

There was one other piece to this puzzle though, wasn't there? Dark glances out the window separating the bed he sits on from the one on which Link sleeps. They knew she was the hero from a young age. Come to think of it, Dark glances back at Link. The one he came from, the first hero he knew, the damn tree had known he was the destined to be the hero. It was why he asked a child to go out and save the world. Then there was the other one. Someone always seems to know who needs to be lead to the sword to prove themselves the hero.

Dark looks down and his eyes land on the sword propped beside Link's bed. The Master Sword.

"How do they find the hero? Time after time, they find him, her." Dark doesn't expect an answer, but he stares at the sword regardless, boring holes into it with his glare. He huffs and turns back to the window. "I'm losing it I'm talking to a damn sword."

Heaving a sigh he thunks his head back on the wall. "Maybe I should go find the damn tree. It's still around, isn't it?"

Morning breaks through the window, scattering light over Link's face and leading to a small disapproving groan as she rolls over to bury herself back under the blanket.

"Wakey, wakey Hero. We have to get a move on if we want to be back quickly."

Link shifts and the blanket falls away to reveal a single glaring eye partially hidden by a mess of golden hair.

Dark is standing over her, arms crossed and grinning at her regardless of the deathwish he knows she is sending him.

"I brought breakfast, in case you were wondering."

Not acknowledging Dark said anything she turns to be face down. With a raised eyebrow he waits a moment before he sees her push up onto her hands and knees.

"Are you ready to get up then?"

Rather than glare at him again she just heaves a heavy sigh and turns herself to sit on the edge of the bed. Her jaw splits in a yawn and a hand rubs through her hair, pushing it back from her face.

"You said something about breakfast."

Dark grins and shakes his head with a chuckle. "Yeah." He reaches over to the table under the window and hands a plate to Link. She makes an approving sound when she sees the omelet on it and takes it to begin.

Dark watches her eat, waking up at the same rate the food is disappearing. He wasn't sure if she had gotten over the news she was given yesterday or if it had just been pushed from her mind, but it didn't matter right this minute. They needed to destroy those mirror shards, the sooner the better.

The clink of the plate being set on the bedside table draws Dark from his thoughts.

"Ready?"

Link nods then stands and begins to gather her equipment. The last thing she picks up is the bag with the shards in it. "We should get going. We should be able to reach the Foothill Stable by evening, then we can go up the mountain and reach Goron City by noon." Link's brow furrows in thought for a moment. "Are you able to handle the heat though?"

"What, you mean like it was in the desert? I can just wear that armor again."

Link shakes her head. "It's too hot for just that." She digs in her bag and then pulls out a bottle with some kind of tonic or potion in it. "Oh, good, I still have one." She studies it closer, "It won't be enough though. I'll see if I can make more at the stable, or I can buy some."

Dark looks at her in confusion. "What is it?"

"Fireproof elixir. It helps with the heat and can prevent you from bursting into flames."

The look on Dark's face when Link turns around to face him is one of shock and terror.

"Burst into flames?" It squeaks out of his mouth in a wheeze. "You take it then,"

"You yelled at me last time I didn't take the armor option, so yes, you are using the elixir. I have armor." Link's mouth twists up at one corner as Dark still seems to be having trouble wrapping his mind around it.

Link steps towards him and pats his shoulder as she walks out of the room. "We should get moving."


	31. Chapter 31

It was the day after Link and that shade had come to find her in the her father's old study. Zelda had learned they had stayed the night in the inn before leaving earlier this morning to make their way to Death Mountain. The mirror they had told her about had concerned her, especially it's location. During her studies and training she had learned that in the ancient past the evil of the calamity had been sealed using a dark mirror after his execution had failed.

The story went that after being sealed for many years the evil had escaped and brought ruin to Hyrule. It had been stopped by the Hero of Twilight. As a result though the dark mirror had been shattered so that the evil could not escape again.

Knowing that somehow the pieces of that dark object had remained intact enough for the Yiga to attempt to use it to summon for the Calamity once again was concerning. What also concerned her was the fact that Link knew enough about the mirror to know dropping it into a volcano was their best chance to stop this from being an issue yet again.

There was also that shade to consider. Link had called him 'Dark' and yet he had told her he was the shadow of one of the ancient Heroes of Hyrule. She narrows her eyes at the page she has been attempting to read despite her wandering thoughts. If that was true, could he have been present all those years ago when the evil was sealed using the mirror? Did he know what it was?

"Perhaps my distrust in him is not warranted."

She would have to ask him when he returns after the mirror is destroyed. Until then she would continue to see what she could find on Link and this odd connection her father had fostered.

Link gazes up toward Death Mountain, the Foothill Stable standing tall behind her. Dark was grumbling about having to wear her fireproof armor. He still had not trusted that the elixir she had would keep him safe from the burning heat and after learning that the armor she planned to wear would not only limit her in mobility, but was not as strong as her usual armor, he had insisted she use the elixir and he would wear the uncomfortable, bulky armor.

"No horses again?"

Link smirks and nods at Dark. She had explained last night that it was far too hot on the mountain for a horse to be of any help, let alone survive. As such they would be climbing the mountain on foot. Link had also taken the evening to make more elixir after catching the necessary ingredients. Namely the fireproof lizards that were running around all over the place.

"We should get going. We should be able to make it to the Southern Mine in time for lunch."

"How much further from there is the city?" Link could just make out a pout on Dark's face through the cover of the helmet.

"An hour or so, but we will want a break by the time we reach the mine."

"Lead on then." Dark motions with his hand for Link to lead the way and is soon following her up the mountain road.

It had taken her a while, but Zelda had eventually gotten into a few of the locked drawers and cabinets of her father's study. The page she was studying now appeared to have been written hastily. It had been in the top right hand drawer of the desk, right on top of everything else. It was not truly addressed to any one person, though Zelda could think of only two people that might have been meant to see it.

 _I must first apologize for the deceit you have taken part in. Link, Zelda, whichever of you_

 _finds this, I am sorry that I forced you apart as I did. We were aware from the moment of_

 _your births that the seal on the Calamity Ganon was weakening. What should have been a day of joy and celebration was marred by the knowledge of what you would face. Link in my misguided fear I am sorry to have placed such a heavy burden on you, disguising you as a man and asking one of my most trusted knights to raise you was a decision that plagues me even as the castle is falling to ruin._

The letter ends abruptly, though given how it ended Zelda was certain it was being written while the castle fell to Ganon.

It confirmed that the king had a heavy hand in how Link was raised. That her father was not the man she thought, neither of Link's parents were actually her parents. It tore at her heart to realize that Link had been taken from her family so young and had the destiny of the kingdom placed on her shoulders. A tear drips onto the parchment and Zelda dabs it away before it can smear the ink.

As she does she studies the letter more. "Why would he feel the need to apologize for separating us so young, unless…" Zelda reads through the letter once more. Not once does it make mention to explain to Link about who her parents may have been or where they came from. If it was not the man that they knew then who might it be?

Zelda stands from the stone she was sitting on as she had read the letter, folding it neatly and placing it into a pouch at her hip. With a few quick strides she is out the door of the study and making her way to another part of the castle.

When Zelda's mother had passed her father had not had the heart to stay in the same rooms as he had shared with his beloved wife. As such he had sealed them and left them for the day that either he or Zelda saw fit to go through her things.

That was were Zelda was making her way to. It took quite a while as hallways had collapsed and been blocked off by rubble, but eventually she made it to the door to her mother's chambers.

Her hand hesitates on the door. It was surprisingly intact given the overall state of the castle. With a push the door opens and Zelda is lead into a room she had not seen since she was a young girl.

The windows were broken and parts of the ceiling had fallen in, but it was still recognizable. The curtains were in tatters, hanging limply over the windows. The frame of the bed was dark with rot, but standing. A writing desk was by the door, the metal fixtures rusted with age. Across the room was a wardrobe, it's door hanging open and showing the rags that had become of the gowns within. Beside that sat a vanity, a tarnished mirror and crumbling brush sitting in their places atop it.

It was just as Zelda remembered it.

Making her way to the writing desk she sees the small drawer where he mother kept her diary. Zelda had asked her mother once why she wrote in a diary and had been told by her mother that it helped her to keep her mind clear when things became too much. Zelda had tried a similar approach when she continued to have trouble with tapping into her sealing powers.

Reaching out she pulls the drawer open to find her mother's diary still tucked away and intact. Flipping it open she goes to the very front.

 _I have been waking ill all week. My dear king insisted this morning that I seek out the_

 _healers and find out what is wrong. I know he is concerned for me._

 _I have just returned from the healers. I can not wait to tell Rhoam the happy news. I am_

 _with child._

Zelda flips through the journal skimming it for information. Her mother seemed so excited by her pregnancy and Zelda was sorry that she had never truly gotten to know her mother before she had passed.

It wasn't long before Zelda reached the day of her birth. Slowing down she reads through the entry.

 _I have just given birth to my two beautiful daughters. I have not yet thought of names for_

 _them, but they will be blessed to have each other._

Zelda nearly drops her mother's diary as she reads the passage. 'Two beautiful daughters.' A heavy weight sinks into her stomach as she processes that information. She had a sister? One she never knew about. Her gut twists as she thinks back to her father's letter.

 _Today was our daughters' naming ceremonies. We went to pray to the Goddess on what_

 _we should name our children when each of their hands began to glow. The Triforce_

 _marks of Courage and Wisdom. For all that I was prepared for to have such hardships in_

 _my daughters' futures was not one of them._

 _Rhoam has decided that Zelda will stay in the castle to be trained in her abilities as the_

 _Princess of Desitny. Link will be sent to live with one of his knights and trained to fight. I_

 _tried to tell him that was not necessary, they are sisters, to separate them would be cruel. Even so he stands by his conviction, a princess should not take up the sword, even under such dire consequence._

 _Link will live her life as the son of a knight and train to one day save us all from this horrific evil._

The diary thumps on the ground as Zelda covers her mouth with a trembling hand. Link was her sister!


	32. Chapter 32

"What the Three is that thing!" Dark dodges to the side of a lava bolder that had been thrown at them by some kind of lava rock monster. Link had dodged the other way when the thing had taken a swing at them and was pulling a sledgehammer from her bag. It was something Dark had not seen the point in having and even now he wonders what it was going to be able to do against a creature like this.

Link doesn't seem to mind Dark's reaction to the Igneo Talus. She had expected they might run into one and had made sure to come prepared. Strapping the sledge hammer to her back she runs straight for the creature and darts between its legs as it takes a swipe at her. Quickly she grabs onto its back and begins climbing. It's a rough ride as the Talus moves around and tries to hit her off itself, but she manages to hold on until she is on top of it.

"What is wrong with you!"

Link spares Dark a glance as she pulls the sledgehammer from her back and begins pounding on the large black stone protruding from the top of the creature. She can explain this to Dark later if he still needs it.

After several strikes the stone shatters and the monster thrashes about before crumbling into a heap of boulders which then dissolve into hunks of ore. Link managed to jump from the creature as it died, landing nimbly on her feet a few feet from Dark.

"You're insane. Just utterly insane. What made you think that was a good idea!"

Link turns to dark, raising a questioning eyebrow at him while she stows away the sledgehammer. "I couldn't just leave it there for the average traveler to deal with." She begins going around and picking up the ore that had been dropped.

Dark looked rather conflicted. On the one hand she was right, the average traveler would not have the skills needed to deal with that thing. On the other, "You climbed on top of it though. Why didn't you just shoot the damned thing?"

Link gives him a flat stare as the last piece of ore is put in her bag. "I might have tried a bomb arrow, but it would have blown up in my face from the heat here. The week point requires blunt force to destroy it. Hence, the sledgehammer."

Seeing that Dark was still gaping like a fish over the whole thing she takes his hand and leads him on up the road. "The mine is just a bit further. Then we can stop for lunch before heading to the city."

"Are there going to be more of those things?"

Link shakes her head, "No, just the one. They tend to wander onto the road from time to time. Most of them are handled by the Gorons though."

As Link had said the rest of the trip was without incident. They had stopped at the Southern Mine for lunch before moving on toward the city. When they finally made their way through the gate Dark was only slightly surprised at what he saw.

His last visit to the Gorons had been back after he had first been made and defeated by the Hero of Time. Back then all of the Gorons had lived in a hollowed-out section of the mountain. This may have been the same location, but if it was it had undergone some serious changes. It was no longer closed in under the mountain. Now it sat in the open with the heat warped sky shimmering above. The heat was also much greater than it had been. Where before one had not needed protective gear to reach the city, now you would burst into flames, as evident by the embers flickering through the air on occasion.

There were also many more Gorons than he remembered seeing there before.

"Dark, we need to find Bludo, he'll be able to tell us where to dump the mirror shards."

"Right, Bludo." Dark jogs lightly to catch p to Link as she had begun her way through the city, leaving Dark gaping at the entrance. "Which one is BLudo?"

Link grins and rolls her eyes, "He's the one in charge and is usually up near the path leading to the Northern Mine."

"I'm just going to follow you."

Link shrugs and leads them through the city, over rivers of lava and up a winding path to a building that seems to overlook the entire city. In front of this building is a stern looking old Goron.

"Hello Chief Bludo."

"Link! It's good to see you."

Dark eyes the Goron warily, despite his words, he didn't look like it was good to see anyone.

"It's good to see you again as well."

"Hmm, you're talking more than you did last time you were here."

Link blinks at the greying Goron as he seems to frown, then his mouth twitches ever so slightly upwards.

"I suppose that's a good thing though. So, what brings you all the way up here? I would have thought you would be down in Castletown helping Princess Zelda rebuild everything."

Link pulls the bag with the mirror shards from her back and holds it out to Bludo. "I actually came hoping for your help in disposing of a dangerous artifact."

"A dangerous artifact you say?" He eyes the bag cautiously before turning to head into the building behind him. "Come, we'll talk inside, no need to startle the others while you tell me what's so dangerous."

Link nods and follows after, Dark keeping just behind her.

"Now, why don't you start with your friend there."

Link glances back to Dark before looking forward to Bludo. "His name is Dark, he's been traveling with me while I deal with a few left-over problems from the Calamity."

"Ah, so, he's been watching your back for you then. That's good to hear. I was worried when news reached me that you weren't the brother everyone thought you were."

At Link's frown the Goron laughs heartily. "I don't mean any offense. You are certainly capable of looking after yourself, but some may try to take advantage of a perceived weakness. Regardless, having someone there with you is always a good idea." Bludo settles down quickly and turns serious. "Now, about this dangerous artifact?"

Link holds out the bag again. "This bag contains the remains of a mirror that a group known as the Yiga Clan attempted to use in a ceremony to resurrect the Calamity. Princess Zelda and myself believe that the best way to destroy it and prevent any further attempts to bring it back would be to throw it into the fires of Death Mountain."

Bludo looks at the bag and nods. "I agree, something that dangerous needs to be destroyed. Death Mountain should be hot enough to reduce it to nothing more than slag. I'd like to see someone try and use it then. I'll have Yunobo take you up the mountain. My back is still aching."

After asking where they could find Yunobo, Link leads Dark back out into the city. She swipes a hand over her sweating forehead before reaching into her pouch for an elixir. Taking a quick drink she seems to relax and looks more comfortable.

"It's this way." She waves her arm and Dark follows as she heads around a path and further up a hill than the building they were just in.

There, sitting just around a bend in the road near a large glowing shrine, sat young Goron with a blue kerchief that matches Link's tunic.

"Yunobo!"

The Goron turns and his face splits into the goofiest smile Dark had ever seen before he stands and lumbers over to them.

"Link! Did you come for a visit?"

"Sort of. Bludo wanted you to help us get up to the top of the mountain so we can dispose of something in the lava pool up there."

"Huh? Well sure. Come on, let's go. I'm sure you know the way already though. It's the same path we took when we were trying to stop Vah Rudania."

"What's Vah Rudania?"

Link looks back at Dark, finger on her chin. "It's one of the Divine Beasts used to subdue the Calamity. It was infected when the Calamity first broke free of it's seal, Yunobo helped me to calm it though so I could go and remove the malice infecting it." She turn to Yunobo. "Is it still in the crater?"

"Oh, yes." Yunobo turns his attention from Dark back to Link, then back again after answering Link's question. "Um, who is your friend?"

"This is Dark."

"Nice to meet you." Dark holds out a hand and Yunobo takes it with a smile. "Are you another Champion's descendant?"

Dark blinks in confusion at Yunobo before shaking his head. "No," Link seems to be stifling a laugh at Dark's confused look, but gathers herself enough to answer in more detail.

"He's actually something of a remnant of the previous Legendary Heroes. He's saved my life multiple times now. He's actually the one that knew we needed to destroy the item we're throwing into the crater."

"Really?" Yunobo squints at Dark, drawing in closer before backing away, smile still on his face. "Well ok. Come on, if we hurry we can make it back in time for dinner."


	33. Chapter 33

After her shocking discovery, Zelda had spent the rest of the day pouring over her mother's diary and any paperwork in her father's study related to Link or her foster father. To a certain extent, she understood why her father made the decision he did. Hyrule never would have accepted one of their princesses as a warrior, regardless of any destiny or prophecy.

Would that still be true now though?

So many things had changed. When she had told people that Link was a woman, the general consensus was apologetic. As word had spread, Zelda's concerns that Link would be ostracized for being a female warrior were proven to be unfounded. The people were just happy to be free of the Calamity, and it didn't matter who had saved them. It may have also helped that many of them had encountered Link on her travels and got to know her, just assuming she was a man based on her clothes. Link had apparently not confirmed nor denied her gender and most people felt the shy knight was just too preoccupied to correct them. It wasn't untrue.

So, it wasn't so hard to imagine that they would be perfectly accepting of Link being a princess if this new information came out.

"Princess Zelda?" Her thoughts are interrupted by one of the construction workers from the town.

"Yes Karson, has something come up?"

"A small group of people has shown up in town saying they've come to train as soldiers."

Zelda blinks before standing. "Oh, good. I was worried that my call for volunteers would not get any response. Please let them know I will be there shortly, I just need to straighten a few things in here first."

Karson gives a nod before going ahead to fill her request. Zelda takes the time to organize and gather any of the documents she feels should be kept in her house, at least until she could afford to have people begin reconstruction of the castle. With her things in hand she makes her way out through the ruined castle to the town below.

Zelda was a bit surprised when she first arrived in the town square where the volunteers had gathered. There were about a dozen people standing there, a few of them were even women.

"Thank you for coming. I am glad to see so many of you have responded to my request for trainees. I know that my letter explained things, but I hope you do not mind me going over them again." She pauses to make sure there are no objections before continuing. "Due to the Calamity, many knights and soldiers lost their lives one hundred years ago. With the loss of the castle and town there were few to train new soldiers to defend the people. A few survivors managed to pass on their knowledge and have provided guards for those that need them, but we have not had a proper army since the fall. As such, I have sent out the request for volunteers that wish to train as soldiers and knights to come to Castletown and receive training under the hero that stopped the Calamity. On behalf of the people of Hyrule I thank you for answering the call and coming here."

Zelda looks the small group over and sees that many of them are smiling eagerly.

"I know that you all must be eager to begin your training, but at this time I have to ask for you to be patient. Link is currently in Eldin on an important mission, when she returns she will begin your training. Until then I have made arrangements for you to stay in while you train. Please let yourselves get settled." Zelda looks everyone over. "Uh, the housing arrangements are this way, please follow me."

Zelda had arranged for the houses near hers to be turned into barracks, though they still felt more like homes than she remembered the barracks in the castle being. It wasn't a problem though as for the foreseeable future their function would be to house trainees that Link had taken under her guidance.

"There are three building with bedrooms at this time. Please decide amongst yourselves where each of you wishes to stay. The fourth building," Zelda motions to a fourth single story structure with a large covers porch area and tables set up under it. "Is a communal kitchen and dining area. You are welcome to cook for yourselves or share the task. I do not know if Link will have any plans regarding how chores will be divided up, I am sure she will let you know when she returns. Are there any questions?"

A young man with a shield on his back raises his hand and Zelda nods to him. "How long do you expect the hero to be?"

"I expect that she will be away another day or two. Her mission, while urgent, was not difficult."

A young woman carrying a spear raises her hand. "You keep calling the hero 'she', is it true then that Link is a woman?" The other two young women nod, also wanting to know the answer.

"Yes, she is a woman. I hope that this will not be a problem for any of you."

There were murmurs of 'No' and shaking of heads in response to the princess' reply. It left a smile on her face to know that these people didn't mind that their hero was in fact a woman.

Link was lost in thought as she and Dark make their way from the Foothill Stable. Yunobo had helped them find a good place to toss the mirror shards into the volcano and the two were now on their way back to Castletown. It was more of a relief to Link than she thought it would be to have the mirror destroyed and no longer a danger. Now she had to think about the request Zelda had made of her, was that only a week ago.

Training soldiers was not something she really wanted to do, but she understood that there were few options other than herself. They could always ask Riju for a few of her people to help train their soldiers, but Link knew that might not go over well with the average Hylian. It had been a little over a week since Zelda had sent out a request for volunteer soldiers to report to Castletown. It was enough time for them to have arrived, and there might be some waiting when she returns to the town.

Aware that she would have to do something, Link thinks about how she could even begin.

"What's got you so quiet?"

Link looks over at Dark, who has come up beside her. "I was thinking about how to train the new soldiers. I don't remember my own training. I've been operating on trusting my body to remember things." Link's shoulders slump as she realizes why that may not be helpful in the coming endeavor.

"Eh, don't sweat it. I have a little experience. I can help you out at the least."

Blinking Link stares at Dark as he turns his attention to the road ahead. "You have experience with training soldiers?"

"Geez, don't sound so disbelieving. I've been around for a long while. I spent a lifetime as the Hero of Time's shadow. When all was said and done he joined the royal knights and eventually was tasked with training new recruits. I may not have been training anyone, but I was there, watching."

Link makes a small 'o' with her mouth as she listens to Dark's explanation. "That should be helpful. Thank you." Link turns back to face forward. "Do you think there will be a lot of volunteers?"

Dark shakes his head, "No, you'll be lucky to get a couple dozen. More may trickle in as some move up in their training, but it's going to take a few years before you have too many and need to start assigning other to help with training."

"So where do we start with those that do show up?"

Dark looks up, thoughtful. "Well, given the resources I saw when we've gone through Castletown, you're going to need to work out a schedule for who's doing what and when. They'll all need to be responsible for their own spaces, but cooking, serving food, dishes, cleaning up any communal spaces, all of that will need to be divided among them and rotated. You will also need them to clear a space for a training yard, assuming the princess didn't think of that and have one prepared already, but you will still need dummies and targets. Making the trainees build them will help to build up their muscles."

Link nods along, making mental notes about what will need to be done. "I think Zelda set up a few houses near hers for the volunteers, so I'll have to look those over when we get back."

"Don't fret, I'm sure you'll do fine."

Link smirks over at Dark. "Sure, and I've got you to help me out anyway, right?"

Dark chuckles and the two continue on their way discussing the various things that could be done to help out the volunteer soldiers.

Zelda had spent the last two days trying to organize her thoughts and figure out the best way to explain to Link what she had found out about their relationship. Before she could tell anyone else, she felt that Link had the right to know first and have a part in deciding if this was something she wanted shared or if she would prefer to remain as just 'the Champion of Hyrule', even if Zelda was excited to have a sister and may be bursting at the seams to tell people.

Currently Zelda was going over documents regarding the progress of the rebuilding of Castletown in the covered dining area of the kitchen building where two of the volunteer soldiers were preparing lunch. A third was chatting through the window with them a mop and broom beside him as it had apparently been his turn to clean the dining area. The others had gone to work on clearing a nearby plaza to be used as a training and sparring area once Link returned. She had felt rather silly when she realized she had forgotten to have a space cleared for that purpose when having the houses prepared for them.

The clomping of hooves on cobblestones draws her attention up to the two riders making their way through the town toward the building she was at. It didn't take her long to realize it was Link and Dark.

"Link!" Zelda stands up from the table she was at and waves as she walks over to the street the two were coming up.

Link smiles at her and is quick to dismount. Dark just gives her a small wave and is slower to dismount his own horse.

"Did everything go well with your mission?"

Link nods, "We had no real trouble with disposing of the shards. Bludo was more than happy to help us with throwing them into the volcano and they melted very quickly once they were in."

Zelda lets out a sigh of relief at hearing that. "I'm glad. I was worried when you told me what they were that the volcano would not be enough to destroy them."

Link raises an eyebrow at Zelda, but she waves it off.

"I was able to find out more about that other matter we discussed before you left." Zelda wrings her hands and averts her eyes, causing both Link and Dark to grow concerned.

"Do, do I want to sit down for this?"

Zelda nods, "Actually we should go into my house to discuss what I found. Dark, if you want to wait for us over there," Zelda motions toward where she had been sitting before they came up. "We shouldn't be very long."

Link furrows her eyebrows while Dark raises one of his. "What? I'm not welcome for this?"

"I, it's not that. It's just I feel that I should let link know first, who she shares this with after that is up to her. I just feel that she should make that decision on her own."

"Is it that bad?"

"I wouldn't say it's bad, it's just, you may not want everyone to know."

Link looks at Dark and he huffs, "Fine I'll go sit in the shade over there and wait." Crossing his arms, he moves over to the table Zelda's papers were still spread out over.

Zelda then leads Link into her house and closes the door. "You will want to sit down for this Link." Zelda takes one of the chairs at her small table, motioning for Link to take the other.

"I learned why my father and your," Zelda hesitates just a moment, but it is enough to put Link on edge. "Father were communicating and exchanging letters. The man that raised you. It turns out he was not actually your father Link. When you were born, it was discovered that you had a very important destiny and your father felt it would be best for you to be raised as a knight, rather than as his daughter."

Zelda pauses to let Link absorb what she had just told her. She had thought long about this and knew that taking things slow would be the best route. Letting Link take the time to slowly process each piece of information before revealing more would hopefully help her to not react badly.

Link is frowning. Her parents had given her up when they learned she was destined to be the Hero of Legend. It was not what she had expected. It also left her with a more pressing question. "Then, who were my parents?"

Zelda lets out a soft sigh as she braces herself for this. "Your parents are the same as mine, the King and Queen of Hyrule. I only just learned that my mother gave birth to twins when I was born. That means that we are actually sisters. Father was concerned that as a princess you would never be able to get the training you need to become the hero you were meant to be. He asked one of his most trusted knights to raise you and train you as his son so that when the time came you would be ready to face your foe." Zelda reaches into her pocket and pulls out her father's last letter to them. "As the Calamity struck Father attempted to write a letter to explain everything, but he must have been interrupted. If you would like to read it," Zelda holds the letter out to Link. "I also have mother's journal. That's actually where I was able to learn of everything."

Link takes the letter, reading over it as Zelda keeps a calm face.

"I want you to know, that I will not force you to be a princess. The life you have led until now, I would understand if you wish to just remain a knight. I will always be your sister, even if we don't tell people." Zelda lays a hand on Links forearm, drawing her attention from the letter in her hands. "Whatever you decide is best for you, I will stand by that decision."

Link swallows the lump in her throat. "Thank you." She glances back down at the letter. "I'll think about it. I don't really know what I want to do yet. I still need to train the soldiers, regardless of whether we share this information or not, I'm still going to need to train them."

"I understand. Take as much time as you need, there is not rush on a decision."

The two share a smile.

Outside Dark is playing with a plank page from the stack that Zelda had been working on, folding it and shaping it while watching through the window as the two in the kitchen prepare food for lunch. There was also the third one that was sweeping and wiping down the tables. Every now and then he would look up at Zelda's house to see if either of them had come out. He didn't like being kept out of things. He had grown attached to Link and rarely were the two far from one another.

The person wiping down tables had finished and was over by the window through which Dark could see the Kitchen, there was a counter there and the man that had been cleaning was now talking to one of the people cooking. Dark was too far away to really catch what they were talking about but after a little while he sees the man walk off after putting the broom he was using in a small alcove with a mop and bucket.

Dark shrugs and goes back to his paper folding. It isn't long before he hears the sounds of plates being set out on the counter and looks up as a group of ten or so people make their way over. They head straight for the counter and form a line as the two cooks dish out a lunch of bread and stew. It looks good and Dark wishes he could have some, so he is a bit surprised when the man that had been cleaning earlier comes over to him with a plate and sets it down in front of him.

"You came in with the hero, right?"

Dark nods and notices that the man has a second plate still in his hand. "Yeah."

"Are you a volunteer as well then?"

Dark furrows his brow in confusion. "Uh, not really."

"Oh." The man looks a bit unsure about how to continue.

"If you want to sit down here I don't mind. I am going to be helping Link in training the volunteers. If that who this crowd is then it's bigger than I thought would show up."

The man lets a grin come across his face and takes the seat opposite Dark, careful to not get too near the pile of papers that Zelda had left behind. "My names Jacques by the way. What's yours?"

"It's Dark." Dark looks at the plate and finds a spoon settled next to the bowl and bread. Picking it up he dips it in and takes a bite of the stew. It's good, rich and hearty. "Where were the others before you left to get them?"

"Oh, they were clearing a plaza for the training grounds. The princess thought of a lot in preparation for us, but that was something that slipped her mind. We don't mind though, it's given us something to occupy ourselves with while we waited for you and Sir Link to return." Jacques, pauses on bringing his spoon to his mouth. "Wait is it 'Sir' or would it be 'Lady'? I know that knights used to go by Sir, but I've never heard of a lady knight before."

Dark pauses in his own meal and looks thoughtful. "Don't know, we can ask her when she gets done talking to the princess."

"Right." There is a lull as the two continue eating in silence.

"So where did you come from? You must be a good soldier if you'll be helping to train us, but I've never heard of any soldiers since the Calamity struck. Most of those with any training took up posts as town guards, but they aren't really, well, they aren't able to train anyone else."

Dark thinks for a moment, not sure if he should just be blunt here or not. He looks around at the other volunteers then back to Jacques. "It's a bit complicated. I was trapped and Link managed to get me free." He stares down into his bowl. "I'm not exactly normal."

"Are you a Sheikah?"

Dark stares at the man across from him. "No, what made you think that?"

Jacques looks a bit nervous as he answers. "Well, uh, your eyes are red. I heard somewhere that only Sheikah have red eyes."

Dark blinks and goes back to his food. "I'm not a Sheikah, so other people have to have red eyes. Besides the Sheikah in Kakariko don't have red eyes."

"Oh, they don't? I guess the red eye thing is just a myth then. Oh well."

The two fall into silence after that until the door to Zelda's house opens and both men turn to see Link and Zelda exiting.

"I'll grab us some lunch, go and sit with Dark."

"Ah, but, Zelda."

Zelda pushes Link into one of the seats at the table Dark and Jacques are sharing before striding off to grab them both lunch.

Jacques fumbles to his feet and bows at the waist when Link is settled at the table, Dark takes note he looks flustered. "It is an honor to meet you and to be given the chance to train under you, uh?" Jacques nervousness turns questioning at how to address the champion before him.

"Link is fine, I don't think I need any titles."

"Ah, yes, well."

Dark cuts off Jacques stammering with a raised eyebrow at Link. "I think he actually meant to know if they should use 'Sir' or 'Lady' given your knighthood, but if you want to be as informal as just Link with them you may find them imitating fish for a while."

Link blinks to process Dark's statement, "If you must then 'Sir' is fine. A 'Lady' would be a slightly different rank than 'Sir'."

"Oh, I understand."

Just then Zelda returns with two plates and places one down in front of Link before taking her place where her papers are still set about.

"So what have you three been talking about?" Zelda straightens the papers and sets them aside before tucking into her meal, her expression curious.

"I was just getting to know Jacques a bit when you two came out. He told me some of what he and the other volunteer soldiers have been up to. I'm impressed, they mostly managed to get themselves started on what we talked about on the trip back from Death Mountain."

"Oh? That's good." Link turns to Jacques. "What have you and the others been up to?"

"Uh well, we've been taking turns cooking and cleaning the dining area, we also found a plaza not far from here that would be good for training in. We've been clearing the rubble to make it useable."

Link gives him a smile. "That's great. We'll introduce ourselves to everyone after lunch."

Jacques nods. "I'll let everyone know so they don't head straight back to the plaza."

Jacques picks up his plate and heads back to the counter near the kitchen before going around to let the others know about Link's intentions to meet everyone after lunch.


	34. Chapter 34

When everyone had finished eating, Link took the time to introduce herself and Dark to the trainees and let them introduce themselves as well. Link was surprised to see a few women in the group, but was glad for it. Word was apparently spreading that Link was in fact a woman and that lead to other women wanting to take up the sword and learn to fight.

Once introductions were out of the way, Link explained how she expected each of them to behave and how chores would be divided. Per her discussion with Dark on their way back from Death Mountain she explained their schedule to them.

Dark then stepped up and told them that they would have evaluations once the plaza was cleared. They seemed to be nervous about that, not sure if it was a good thing or not.

On another note, it took Link about a week to decide that she liked the idea of having a sister and wouldn't mind telling people that fact. Her trainees were working hard and none of them made any comments on her being a woman, or that they were training with women. It made Link feel more relaxed and less concerned about telling people about her and Zelda.

"Hey, is something on your mind?"

Link turns to Dark, the two had moved into a house near Zelda's, something that had caused the other woman to giggle incessantly despite Link's confusion on the matter. "I was just thinking about something I talked about with Zelda."

Dark raises an eyebrow in question, waiting patiently for Link to say something else.

Link rubs the back of her head and turns away, not sure how to address the issue. "Well, Zelda, when we talked the other day, about my past. She found something."

"I did sort of figure that one out. What did she find out?"

"Well, to start, the man that raised me was actually a foster father. The king asked him to raise me since he didn't think the people of Hyrule would accept a princess warrior."

Link studies the floor, scoffing it with her toes while she waits to hear how Dark is going to react to the information.

"Wait, your, how?"

"Zelda and I are twins."

"Oh." Dark seems a little lost for words and Link looks at him with concern. "I think I should tell people. It's not like things will be that different from how they are now. Most people know me as the Hero by now, revealing that I'm Zelda's sister shouldn't change things too much." Link gives Dark a hopeful look, asking for his approval or for him to tell her it was a stupid idea.

"Eh, it shouldn't change much. Most people recognize Zelda as the leader of Hyrule, but its more out of a tradition than actually feeling her position is necessary."

"I know, she's actually planning to turn the castle into a council hall once we have the spare man power to work on it. She's sent out notices for council members to be elected by each town."

"Huh?" Dark looks to the ceiling, leaning back a bit in his chair. "That's interesting. Is she planning to collapse the monarchy?"

"I don't think so. I think it's more she feels the people have governed themselves well enough without her leadership that this is something of a compromise between tradition and the new way people have been living. As things are she can't afford to pay the volunteer soldiers, though she's keeping track of back pay for when she does have the money to pay them. It's been stressing her out more and more lately. I thought I might be able to help some, but I'm even more clueless than she is on how to run a kingdom."

Dark winces at Link's explanation. It all made perfect sense. What he knew of how things had changed over the last one hundred years, it made sense that Zelda would have to change things if she wanted to keep the monarchy in place. Even if that meant that it was more a figurehead position around which the people to could for guidance. There was also the issue of cash flow. Castletown was doing well because it was a central location in the kingdom and made a great place for trade. Therefor people wanting to take advantage of that fact had begun moving here and buying houses from Bolson and Co as fast as they could build them.

"So how do you want to tell people then?"

Link shrugs. "I was going to talk to Zelda about it, I just, I wanted your opinion. I didn't want to have this affect our training of the soldiers and if anyone would know how that would go over it would be you."

"Yeah, it won't be an issue for you, those trainees are good people. They won't change their opinion just because you're a royal."

Link relaxes at that, not realizing how tense she had been at thinking how the trainees would react to the news. That was the only real concern she had about sharing her newly discovered title with people.

"Thank you."

A knock at the door interrupts any further conversation and Link gets up to answer it. She is surprised when on the other side of the door is Sidon.

"Link! How have you been? I heard you were able to stop the Yiga Clan from completing their nefarious plans."

"I've been good Sidon." She looks at the tall Zora prince and then at the house she shared with Dark. The ceiling was too low for him to be comfortable. "Why don't we talk in the common dining area, it has a higher ceiling?"

"Oh, thank you that would be appreciated." Sidon steps back from the door so that Link can step out beside him.

"Dark, do you want to come as well?"

Dark had been eyeing the prince since Link had opened the door. He had been hoping he'd never see the wet fish again, but here he was. "Yeah, I'll come along." He stands up and heads out, purposefully walking between Link and Sidon. He manages to catch Sidon frowning at him out of the corner of his eye. Smirking he stays where he is between them.

Sidon holds back his glare at the shade's behavior as the three head over to the large covered dining area. The benches were a bit short for his comfort, but at least his head would not have to be ducked to avoid bumping it on the ceiling. It was fine for Hylians, but Sidon was tall even by Zora standards.

"I'm glad to hear you have been well. I must admit I was concerned when you went off to fight your enemy so boldly with only Dark to aid you."

Link settles at one of the tables and looks up at Sidon. "He actually saved myself and the Gerudo soldiers that had come out with us. His ability to move through shadows caught the Yiga off guard and we managed to get the upper hand quickly in the end."

Sidon blinks and then looks to Dark, "I was not aware you could do that."

Shrugging Dark stares back. "It's not something I thought to really tell people. We're lucky it worked out in our favor this time, I can't always just duck through the shadows to move from one point to another."

"Oh?" Sidon seems a bit too gleeful to learn of a limitation in the other's abilities.

"Aside from being draining when there aren't many shadows to work with, if I need special gear I could burn or freeze when I come up. I can't take things through with me."

Sidon's brow furrows, "Then would you not come out nude?"

"Technically my clothes are part of me." He demonstrates by having them morph into a replica of what Link is wearing.

"I see, that is certainly a disadvantage to the ability." Sidon then smiles widely. "We should spar some time. I heard that you have been helping Link in training new soldiers."

"Sure, if you think you can keep up." Dark's grin is wicked as he accepts the challenge.

Link is sitting opposite the two men and staring at them in confusion as they continue to banter back and forth, boasting about their individual achievements. After several minutes of this Link notices Zelda settling beside her, an amused grin on her face.

"This is interesting, how long have these two been fighting?" Zelda's voice is low and Link blinks at her before answering, not sure she had even heard her speak.

"They seem to do this whenever they get near each other."

"Oh." Zelda's amusement seems to increase and Link narrows her eyes.

"What was that for?"

Zelda covers her mouth as a giggle escapes. "It's just, you do know why they are arguing around you, don't you?"

Confused Link furrows her brow and tries to think on why the two would be arguing so much. Eventually she shrugs, not able to figure it out.

Zelda sighs and pats Link on her shoulder. "I'll leave it to them to tell you why then. It's really not my place."

Link gapes at Zelda then looks back over at the glaring men looking somewhat helpless. She didn't understand why they kept fighting.

"In the morning, then?"

"Indeed. I will see you there."

"Would you two stop this, whatever it is. Why do you keep fighting!" Link had just registered that whatever was going on had escalated into some sort of duel or competition and she didn't want to see either of them get hurt, they were still both her friends. Even if they were acting like idiots.

The two men have the decency to look sheepish, even if Dark manages to cross his arms in some form of defiance. Neither answers her question though.

"I'm waiting." Link is now glaring at the two with Zelda giggling beside her. The group had gathered the attention of the few trainees that have been mingling in the dining area, relaxing before heading to bed for the evening.

"Er, well, you see." Sidon stumbles over his words, a behavior that has Link concerned for the usually confident Zora. "I don't like that you spend so much time in such close proximity to him." Sidon motions to Dark, who scoffs at the unsaid accusation. "It isn't appropriate."

Zelda chose that moment to burst into all out laughter at the confused look on Link's face as she tries to figure out why that would be inappropriate.

"I don't, why would it be inappropriate?"

"I think the fish is trying to insinuate that usually when a man and woman share a close bond things tend to happen. He's just jealous because he wants to be able to share a house with you."

"I'm sorry, but what? I still don't, what are you talking about? The house doesn't have much water in it, he'd dry out."

Dark blinks and Sidon is gaping in surprise to Link's confused and puzzled expression. Zelda meanwhile has managed to calm down and is now giving Link a slightly concerned look.

"Do you really not understand Link?"

Link shakes her head and Zelda stands, taking her arm and leading her into her house. Link is a bit surprised by this but doesn't put up a fight.

"Just give me a moment with Link, we'll be back before you know it. And do behave."

Dark and Sidon watch as Zelda takes Link away, silence filling the space around them.

Inside her house, Zelda sits Link down at her table and takes the other seat, facing her sister. "Link, this is going to be uncomfortable for both of us, but I need to ask a few personal questions."

Link nods and gives Zelda her full attention.

"Alright, well first I suppose I should clarify, you and Dark haven't slept together have you?"

Link opens her mouth to answer, but Zelda cuts her off as she rethinks her question.

"And I don't mean just sharing a room in an inn or next to a campfire. I'm talking about sex."

Link's mouth hangs open and she shakes her head violently. "No!"

Zelda sags in relief to the answer, "That's good then."

"What does that have to do with the way those two are acting though?"

Zelda sighs heavily. "Link, they like you and they are fighting over your attentions. I must admit, I was surprised that Sidon was interested, but everyone knows that Dark likes you and well, we all thought you two were, intimate."

Link holds up a single finger, mouth open in protest, trying to voice why that didn't make any sense at all. "I haven't thought of either one that. I just, they're my friends." Link furrows her brow in thought. "I don't think I've ever thought of anything like that. I know that people have sex, and I know it's not appropriate for Dark to watch me change or that sort of thing. I just, I don't think of that sort of thing as being a thing." Link's shoulders slump. "This is not easy to explain. Maybe something is wrong with me."

"Link, nothing is wrong with you. You are allowed to not be interested in sex. And if that is the case we will explain it to both Dark and Sidon so they will stop behaving like this." Zelda has taken Link's hand and is squeezing it gently.

Link nods, still seeming unsure of the whole situation.

"Alright then, we'll talk to them together."

Outside Dark and Sidon had been ignoring one another, both uncomfortable in the other's presence. The trainees had mostly stuck around, it was obvious they were curious about this strange situation their co-captain was in with a Zora and their other captain. Many of them had been curious about the relationship between Dark and Link, but had wisely not asked either about it.

Dark was scowling off at nothing, he knew Zelda had to be explaining things to Link, he was surprised she had let the two share a house, especially given the conversation he had with Link just before the fish showed up. He had been planning to be patient with Link, he knew she could be oblivious. He just hoped he'd have more time alone with her before the fish prince showed back up and decided to meddle. He was tempted to listen in a bit and tap into his connection with Link in order to see how things were going. Maybe feel out how she felt about him. He stopped himself though. It was somewhat creepy to do that to essentially read her mind.

Huffing he looks over at Sidon and sees that the fish was rather nervous. At least Dark was hiding it better.

Sidon's leg was bouncing on the ball of his foot. He hadn't planned for Link to find out about his affections, especially not like this. There was just something about Dark that made his usual good nature to fade into an angry sneer. It had angered him, even as he worried for Link's safety, that she would be alone for so long with the shade. Realizing the two were living together was something he wanted to punch the dark being for, even if it may not have been his idea.

Sidon's thoughts are interrupted as the door to Zelda's house opens and the pair walk out and over to them. Zelda steps up first, giving both men a level stare.

"I have had a talk with Link."

Sidon cringes internally and looks over to see that Dark has hunched his shoulders slightly more than they were before.

"It has come to my attention that Link does not feel the same for either of you as you feel for her. In fact, she seems to, uh."

"I'm not interested in starting a family, with anyone, ever. I'm sorry, I didn't realize how either of you felt sooner. If I had I would have said something sooner. I hope that we can stay friends." Link shifts her weight, nervous about angering her two friends and losing them.

Sidon slumps in his chair. He was upset to hear that Link wouldn't return his feelings. Thinking back, he remembers asking his sister if she wanted to marry Link once when they were children. Of course, neither had known then that Link was in fact a woman, but Mipha's answer had been strange to him at the time. Now it made a bit more sense.

" _Oh, Sidon, I would love for that to be the case, but Link isn't interested. He is married to the kingdom; his duty is to this land and its people."_

" _But Mipha, shouldn't he want to marry and have a big family?"_

 _Mipha giggles at the small form of her brother. "Perhaps that is the norm, but not everyone feels the need to be intimate with others, some are content with just friendship."_

Sidon manages a smile at Link. "Thank you for letting me know. I would be happy to simply remain friends."

Dark was just kicking himself. He should have realized Link wasn't interested. She was just too unaware of anything she could do that would be related to what she clearly was not interested in. Upset as he was that he'd never get to experience that particular intimacy with her he wasn't going to push it. If she wasn't interested, that was the end of it.

"Yeah, yeah, got it. We're still friends."

Link seemed to relax when she received both responses. She understood this might be hard for them, but she just couldn't let them go on thinking she might one day want to be more than just friends.

888888888888888

Alright, so this didn't really go the way I planned, sort of. I feel that I didn't write this as well as it deserved, at least now how Link is explaining her feelings. Something I want to make clear is that I have, for quite some time, known that neither Dark or Sidon was going to wind up in a relationship with Link. I felt that between how she was raised and her amnesia that her sexuality was something outside of what the people around her would see as normal. Also, given the medieval setting of the story there isn't really a term for someone that is asexual, which is what Link is in this story. I hope that I have not offended anyone by misrepresenting this complicated and often misunderstood sexuality. If you feel I have any glaring mistakes in how I had Link express herself, or in other people's understanding regarding this, please let me know so I can edit this chapter.

Now aside from that this was supposed to be an epilogue and it turned into something completely different because Sidon decided he wanted to show up and throw a wrench into everything. At this point I am hoping the next chapter will let me wrap up any last loose end and finish this off. Once this is complete I will begin work on another story that I hope you will all enjoy. More details will come at the end of the next chapter.


	35. Chapter 35

Link watched over the soldiers as they practiced their forms in the training yard of the newly refurbished castle. It was several years now since she had beaten the Calamity Ganon and freed Hyrule from its dark presence.

True to her word Zelda had had the place reconstructed as a council hall with studies and offices for councilors and their assistants. The castle also had living quarters for the councilors so that they could stay there when it was required but still go back to their homes when they were not needed in the capital.

Link had eventually announced to the public that she and Zelda were sisters. There had been much excitement about that bit of news and some wondered if Link would be interested in working beside her sister. Instead, Link had told the people her plans to help train new soldiers and knights.

That was something Link felt had worked out rather well. She had around a dozen trained soldiers and half as many knights and guards. The current set of trainees was helping the guards with their rounds as part of their training.

Something else that made Link happy was the number of women that had volunteered to train as soldiers. One of the first that had volunteered had even gained knighthood when it came time for promotions. This made Link very happy.

Dark had continued to help with training the soldiers, something Link was grateful for. She had been worried after that talk years ago where she rejected both him and Sidon, that he would be resentful of her and cause problems. He hadn't though and he proved to be a loyal friend. Every now and then she caught him sending her longing glances, but that was something she couldn't help.

Sidon on the other hand seemed to have bounced back from the rejection rather well and had invited Link to his wedding next month. She was happy for him. He'd managed to find a nice Zora girl that adored him and he treated her like a princess from the moment she caught his eye. The whole romance had made Link giggle when she saw the two together, they were adorable.

Hyrule was still coming back from the destruction caused by the Calamity, but things were going well and Link knew that one day the wild land of Hyrule would once more be tamed.

* * *

And here we have the epilogue. I hope you all enjoyed this wild experiment and will leave a review. Thank you for following me or this story and I hope you will be just as excited to follow along as I move onto my next project, 'The Legend of Link'.

And for those that are wondering what that is: Prince Link was told from a young age that he was the destined hero that would protect Hyrule from evil. Zelda is a farm girl whose older brother went off to serve in the castle and train alongside the hero prince and help him fight the forces of evil. Only things turn out to not be that simple.


End file.
